GIFT   OF 
MICHAEL  REESE 


MEXICO 


TJ^TDER 


MAXIMILIAN", 


BY 

I1ENKY    M.    FLINT.   ESQ., 

AUTHOR  OF  "DRUID'S  LETTERS,"  "LIFE  OF  SENATOR  DOUGLAS,"  ETC. 


..    X 

•*"-%>.  ^.^.-ij.-—.^  " 

NATIONAL    PUBLISHING    COMPANY, 

PHILADELPHIA.    PA.;     BOSTON,    MASS.;     RI<  'II  M<>.\  I>,   V  A  .  ;     CINOI.N.N  ATT, 

oino;     cincAr.o.     II^L.  ;     ST.     I.OUTS.     MO.; 

ATLANTA,  GA.  ;    NEW  ORLEANS.   LA. 


REESE 

flu  6 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  ISO",  by 

J.    11.    JONES, 

111  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District   Court  of   thi  United    States,  in  and  for 
the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


DEDICATION. 

—  *•»» — 
TO 

THE   KM1M1KSS   CARLOTTA, 

THE    recollection    of   whose  unwearied    labors    and 
affectionate  solicitude  for  llieir   prosperity  and  happi 
ness,  will    be    forever    cherished    in    the:    hearts  of  the 
Mexican  people, 
This  volume  is 

Respectfully  dedicated  by 

THE  AUTHOR. 


Ft  E  F  A.  C  E. 


THE  object  of  the  author,  in  writing  this 
book,  is  to  remove  if  possible,  to  some  extent, 
the  prejudice  which  exists  against  the  present 
government  of  Mexico.  This  prejudice  is  based 
upon  a  misapprehension  of  the  character  of  that 
government ;  and  upon  the  fact  that  very  little 
is  known,  in  the  United  States,  of  what  Maxi 
milian  has  done  for  Mexico.  If  any  intelligent 
citizen  of  the  United  States  should  go  to  that 
country,  remain  there  for  six  months,  make 
himself  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  Mexican 
people,  and  see  with  his  own  eyes  how  much 
Maximilian  has  done  for  their  happiness  and 
prosperity,  and,  above  all,  compare  Mexico 
under  a  monarchy  with  what  it  always  has 
been  under  a  republic,  he  would  candidly  admit 
that  at  last  Mexico  has  found  the  government 

that  is  suited  to  her,  and   that  will  eventually 

(5) 


6  'PREFACE. 

raise  her  to  a  respectable  rank  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  The  government  of 
Maximilian  is  a  limited  constitutional  monar 
chy;  it  is  founded  upon  the  choice  of  the  Mexi 
can  people ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  which 

it  has  had  to  contend  with,  and  which  environ 

9 

it  now,  it  has  done  more  for  the  prosperity  of     , 
Mexico ;  more  for  the  enlightenment  and  happi- ) 
ness  of  the  Mexican  people,  during  the  three 
years   of  its   existence,    than    any   republican  i 
government  in  Mexico  ever  did,  in  thirty,  forty, 
or  fifty,  years. 

It  is  possible  that  this  book  may  be  unpopu 
lar.  I  do  not  write  for  popularity,  however,  but 
to  set  forth  the  truth.  From  the  foundation  of 
the  republic  up  to  the  year  1861,  independence 
of  thought  was  considered  creditable,  and  free 
dom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  were  regarded 
as  the  most  precious  birth-rights  of  an  American 
citizen.  From  the  foundation  of  the  republic 
up  to  the  year  1861,  the  man  who  had  not 
manliness  of  soul  enough  to  think  for  himself, 
and  courage  enough  to  express  his  thoughts 


frankly,  was  despised.  No  character  was  more 
contemptible  than  one  who  slavishly  copied  the 
opinions  of  others,  and  had  no  opinions  of  his 
own. 

This  is  all  changed  now.  We  live  under  a 
new  and  "loyal"  dispensation.  In  1861  and 
1802,  the  edict  went  forth  that  men  must  stop 
thinking  for  themselves,  and  must  stop  express 
ing  their  thoughts.  All  men  must  think  alike  ; 
and  they  must  think  in  a  "  loyal"  manner.  To 
believe  that  the  war  against  the  south  was  im- 
*  necessary,  and  might  have  been  avoided ;  to 
believe  that  it  would  end  in  the  destruction  of 
the  Union,  and  to  express  that  belief,  was  "  dis 
loyal."  To  believe  that  the  withholding  of 
medicines  from  the  sick  in  the  south  was  cruel, 
and  to  express  that  belief,  was  "  disloyal."  To 
believe  that  the  object  of  the  war  on  the  part 
of  the  north,  was  the  subjugation  and  conquest 
of  the  Southern  States  and  the  permanent  dis 
solution  of  the  Union,  and  to  express  that 
belief,  was  "treason."  To  believe  that  Abra- 
/  ham  Lincoln  was  neither  a  saint  nor  a  statesman, 


8  PREFACE. 

and  to  express  that  belief,  was  to  be  a  "  traitor." 
In  a  word,  every  one  was  required  to  believe  as 
the  leaders  of  the  radical  Republican  party  be 
lieved,  and  to  speak  as  they  spoke.  Whoever 
did  not  do  so,  was  a  marked  man. 

It  was  thus  that  the  ideas  about  the  Mexican 
empire  sprang  up.  Napoleon  is  helping  the 
south.  Napoleon  is  going  to  recognize  the  South 
ern  Confederacy.  Napoleon  has  established  a 
monarchy  in  Mexico,  to  which  he  will  annex 
Texas,  and  to  this  will  be  annexed,  in  time,  all 
the  Southern  States.  This  was  the  first  song ; 
and  nobody  was  allowed  to  sing  in  a  different 
tune.  Then,  again,  Napoleon  is  helping  the 
south.  Napoleon  is  going  to  recognize  the 
south.  The  throne  of  Maximilian  is  upheld  by 
the  presence  of  French  troops,  and  a  French 
army  is  to  be  permanently  maintained  in 
Mexico.  This  was  the  next  song.  Every 
body's  violin,  flute,  harp,  sackbut,  and  dulcimer, 
must  play  the  same  notes,  and  smashed  be  the 
fiddle  that  will  not.  Then,  again,  well,  at 
any  rate,  Napoleon  desired  to  help  the  south, 


PREFACE.  9 

and  wished  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confeder 
acy.  The  establishment  of  a  monarchy  in 
Mexico  was  a  part  of  the  rebellion.  We 
crushed  the  one ;  now  we  must  crush  the  other. 
This  is  the  present  radical  song,  which  they 
have  been  singing  ever  since  the  close  of  the 
war.  It  is  founded  upon  the  same  wise  princi 
ples  of  statesmanship  as  the  bill  of  Mr.  Thad- 
deus  Stevens  for  changing  the  ten  Southern 
States  into  five  Military  Departments. 

That  this  book  has  many  imperfections,  I  am 
well  aware.  The  materials,  accessible  for  the 
work,  have  not  been  abundant ;  nor  have  I  en 
joyed  the  opportunity  of  devoting  to  it  that 
continuous  and  uninterrupted  labor  without 
which  no  literary  work  can  be  free  from  faults. 
I  commend  it,  however,  to  an  indulgent  public, 
with  the  sincere  hope  that  it  may  dispel  many 
of  the  delusions  that  have  prevailed  in  relation 
to  the  Mexican  empire. 

II.  M.  F. 

WASHINGTON-,  FEB.  22,  18G7. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Mexico  before  the  conquest — Mexico  at  the  time  of  Cortez — Historical 
sketch  of  Mexico  during  the  last  forty  years — A  constant  scene 
of  anarchy  and  confusion — Deplorable  condition  of  the  country, 
and  of  the  people,  at  the  time  of  the  French  Intervention — Self- 
government  in  Mexico  impossible,  and  why — Geographical  sketch 
of  modern  Mexico — Vast  extent  of  the  country — How  the  French 
intervention  might  have  been  prevented  by  the  United  States — 
Mr.  McLane's  treaty — Why  it  was  not  ratified 17 


CHAPTER   II. 

How  the  Mexican  Empire  came  to  be  Established — Origin  of  the 
French  Intervention — The  United  States  had  "  Conquered  and 
Divided"  Mexico,  and  then  Left  it  to  its  Fate— Touching  Appeal 
of  the  Gentlemen  of  Mexico  to  the  United  States  Government — 
Its  Rejection — They  Appeal,  as  a  Last  Resort,  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon — Landing  of  the  French  Army  at  Yera  Cruz — Military 
Operations — Capture  of  Pucbla — The  French  Army  Enters  the 
City  of  Mexico — The  Emperor's  Instructions  to  General  Forey 
— Contrast  between  our  Treatment  of  Mexico  in  1847,  and  the 
Treatment  of  Mexico  by  Napoleon — Convocation  of  the  Assem 
bly  of  Notables — Their  Address  to  the  Mexican  Nation — General 
Forey  Returns  to  France — He  is  Succeeded  by  General  Bazaine...  33 

(11) 


12  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  Emperor's  Instructions  to  General  Bazaine  —  Proceedings  of  the 
Assembly  of  Notables  —  They  Determine  upon  a  Limited  Mon 
archy,  and  Offer  the  Crown  of  Mexico  to  Prince  Maximilian  —  A 
Deputation  of  the  Notables  Proceeds  to  Europe  —  Offer  of  the  Crown 
to  Maximilian  —  Remarkable  Reply  of  Prince  Maximilian  to  the 
Offer  of  the  Crown  —  The  Conditions  upon  which  he  Eases  his 
Consent  —  Approval  of  these  Conditions  by  the  Emperor  Na 
poleon  ..............................................................................  49 

CHAPTER   IV. 

The  Mexican  People  Vote  upon  a  Change  in  the  Government  — 
Popular  Ratification  of  the  Action  of  the  Notables—  The  Mexican 
People  Pronounce  in  Favor  of  Maximilian  for  Emperor  —  Manner 
in  which  this  Election  was  Conducted  —  Its  Perfect  Freedom  — 
Every  Mexican  Voted  —  This  Election  in  Mexico  Compared  with 
the  Elections  in  Maryland  for  Three  Years  past  —  Two-thirds  of 
the  Voters  of  Maryland  Disfranchised  —  Superior  Freedom  of  the 
Mexican  Election  ................................................................  66 

CHAPTER  V. 

Maximilian's  Second  Condition  also  Complied  with  —  The  Stability  of 
the  Mexican  Empire  Guaranteed  by  France,  Austria,  and  Belgium 
—A  Deputation  of  Mexicans  Arrive  at  Miramar  —  Maximilian 
Accepts  the  Mexican  Crown  —  Embarkation  of  Maximilian  for 
Mexico  —  The  Voyage  across  the  Atlantic  —  Arrival  at  Vera  Cruz 
—Reception  there  —  Proclamation  of  Maximilian  on  Landing  — 
Arrival  at  the  City  of  Mexico  —  Reception  there  —  Rejoicings  of 
the  People  —  Festivities  and  Illuminations  —  Immensity  of  the  Task 
which  Maximilian  found  before  him  —  Measures  which  he  Adopted 
to  Secure  the  Prosperity  and  Happiness  of  the  People—  Good 
Effect  of  these  Measures  —  Revival  of  Commerce,  and  of  all 
Branches  of  Business  —  Effect  of  the  Encouragement  of  Industry 
-  —  Gradual  Increase  in  the  Revenues  of  Mexico....  .  87 


CONTEXTS.  -13' 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Causes  of  the  Success  of  Maximilian's  Government — Severe  Measures 
Adopted  against  the  Guerillas — Good  Effect  of  these  Measures— 
The  Authority  of  the  Empire  Gradually  Extended  over  the  Whole 
of  Mexico — Republican  Mexican  Soldiers  join  the  Army  of  Max 
imilian — Their  Reasons  for  doing  so — Construction  of  Railroads, 
and  Other  Works  of  Internal  Improvement — The  New  Coinage — 
The  Finances — Encouragement  Afforded  to  Education  by  Maxi 
milian — Encouragement  Extended  to  Literature — Freedom  of 
Religion  in  Mexico — The  Administration  of  Justice — Publication 
of  the  Mexican  Laws — Admirable  Features  of  the  Mexican  Code 
—The  Empress  Carlotta— Her  Visit  to  Yucatan 104 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Arms  and  Ammunition  Shipped  to  the  Mexican  Liberals  from  New 
York — The  Steamer  Everman — Attempts  of  the  Radicals  in  Con 
gress  to  Loan  Thirty  Millions  of  Government  Funds  to  Juarez — 
Measures  Taken  by  Maximilian  to  Supply  the  Place  of  the 
French  Troops — The  Emperor  Anticipates  Intervention  by  the 
United  States  in  Favor  of  Juarez — Mission  of  the  Empress 
Carlotta  to  Europe — Sickness  of  the  Empress — Embarrassing 
Situation  of  Affairs  in  Mexico — Outrages  of  the  Mexican 
Liberals — Sickness  of  the  Emperor — He  Retires  to  Orizaba — 
The  Sherman  and  Campbell  Mission  to  Mexico — Mr.  Campbell's 
Instructions — Utter  Failure  of  the  Mission — Results  of  the  Mis 
sion — It  Demonstrated  the  Attachment  of  the  Mexican  People  to 
Maximilian — The  Question  of  Abdication  Presented  to  Maxi 
milian — He  Refuses  to  Abdicate — Generous  Conduct  of  the  Clergy 
and  Merchants — Encouraging  Prospects  of  the  Empire 128 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

Policy  of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico — Question  before  the 
"Lincoln  Administration":  "Shall  we  Save  the  Mexican  Repub 
lic  ?"— Consequences  to  the  North  of  Interference  in  Opposition 


14  CONTENTS. 

to  Napoleon — Object  of  the  American  Civil  War — Interference 
•with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  would  Defeat  that  Object — Critical 
Condition  of  the  North  in  1862 — Consequences  to  the  North 
if  the  Emperor  Napoleon  should  Recognize  the  South — The 
United  States  Determine  to  Maintain  a  Neutral  Policy — The 
United  States  Government  Acknowledges  the  Right  of  France 
to  make  War  on  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  to  Secure  the 
Fruits  of  Victory 154 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Policy  of  President  Johnson's  Administration  toward  Mexico — His 
Message  in  December,  1865 —  Our  Policy  to  be  Based  upon  the 
Principle  of  Non-intervention — We  must  Finally  Recognize  the 
Government  de  Facto — Why  Mr.  Logan  was  Appointed  Minis 
ter  to  Mexico — Why  he  Refused  the  Appointment — Why  Mr. 
Campbell  was  Appointed — Why  Mr.  Campbell  is  Not  Permitted 
to  go  to  Mexico — No  Constitutional  Republican  Government  in 
Mexico  in  Existence — Juarez  a  Usurper 163 

CHAPTER   X. 

What  is  the  Monroe  Doctrine? — Is  it  a  Constitutional  Enactment? 
— Is  it  an  Irrepealable  Law? — Absurdity  of  the  Doctrine — It 
has  no  Binding  Force — Why  it  ought  to  be  Repudiated 183 

CHAPTER  XL 

Policy  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  toward  Mexico — Objects  of  the 
French  Expedition — The  Emperor  Never  Intended  the  French 
Troops  to  Remain  Long  in  Mexico — The  Arrangements  for  the 
Withdrawal  of  the  French  Troops  were  not  made  until  the 
Stability  of  the  Empire  was  Secured — Detailed  Exposition,  by 
the  French  Government,  of  the  Objects  and  Purposes  of  the 
Emperor  Napoleon — Principles  upon  which  the  Mexican  Em 
pire  was  Established — Why  it  is  Supported  by  Napoleon — The 
Negotiations  between  France  and  the  United  States  for  the 
Withdrawal  of  the  French  Troops — France  Desires  a  Guarantee 
of  Neutrality  on  the  Part  of  the  United  States— Mr.  Seward 
Gives  the  Guarantee  of  Neutrality 197 


CONTENTS.  15 


APPENDIX. 
I. 

Treaty  between  the  Emperor  of  France  and  the  Emperor  of  Mexico, 
April  10th,  1864,  regulating  the  conditions  of  the  stay  of  the 
French  troops  in  Mexico 219 


II. 

The  French  Government  to   the   French   Minister  at  Washington, 

August  17th,  1865 223 


III. 

Mr.  Seward  to  the  French  Minister  at  Washington,  February  12th, 
1866,  in  reply  to  the  dispatch  of  the  French  Government  of  Janu 
ary  9th,  1866.  See  ante,  page  210 228 


IV. 

The  French  Government  to  the  French  Minister  at  Washington,  April 
5th,  1866,  accepting  as  satisfactory  Mr.  Seward's  assurance  of 
absolute  neutrality  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  made  in  his 
dispatch  of  February  12th,  1866,  and  fixing  the  time  for  the 
departure  of  the  French  troops  from  Mexico 252 


V: 

The  celebrated  Cable  Dispatch  of  Mr.  Seward,  November  23d,  1866, 

which  the  French  Government  refused  to  receive....  255 


MEXICO  UNDER  MAXIMILIAN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Mexico  before  the  conquest — Mexico  at  the  time  of  Cortez — Historical 
sketch  of  Mexico  during  the  last  forty  years — A  constant  scene  of 
anarchy  and  confusion — Deplorable  condition  of  the  country,  and  of  the 
people,  at  the  time  of  the  French  Intervention — Self-government  in 
Mexico  impossible,  and  why — Geographical  sketch  of  modern  Mexico — 
Vast  extent  of  the  country — How  the  French  intervention  might  have 
been  prevented  by  the  United  States — Mr.  McLane's  treaty — "Why  it 
was  not  ratified. 

WHEN  Cortez  landed  in  Mexico,  a  hundred  years 
before  the  Puritans  jumped  ashore  at  Plymouth  Kock, 
he  found  a  people  with  an  established  government, 
skilled  in  useful  arts,  contented,  hospitable,  and  cour 
teous.  They  had  no  written  literature,  and  conse 
quently  no  written  history.  But  in  their  sculpture, 
their  mounds,  their  monuments,  and  their  vast  pyra 
mids,  were  found  recorded  the  annals  of  a  former 
empire  of  barbaric  and  extravagant  splendor.  Even 
at  this  time,  the  Spaniards  found  around  them  in 
abundance,  gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  woollen  and 
cotton  cloth,  dyes  of  the  most  gorgeous  purple 
2  (17) 


18  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

and  scarlet  hues ;  and  their  avarice  soon  tempted 
them  to  deeds  of  treachery,  rapacity,  and  blood.  The 
system  of  merciless  oppression,  extortion,  and  fraud, 
which  then  commenced,  continued  for  three  hundred 
years. 

Cortez,  however,  transplanted  to  Mexico  a  Spanish 
civilization,  which,  gradually  spreading  over  the 
whole  land,  has  endured  to  the  present  time.  "  Under 
this  Spanish  regime,  princely  cities  grew  with  amaz 
ing  rapidity,  with  royal  mansions,  and  richly  sub 
stantial  abodes.  Cathedrals  and  convents — vast, 
massive,  everlasting — endowed  and  adorned  with 
unmeasured  wealth,  impressed  and  awed  every 
neighborhood.  'Haciendas,''  the  homes  of  country 
gentlemen,  controlling  the  labor  of  thousands  of 
'peons,1  at  a  mere  nominal  expense,  dotted  the  land 
at  wide  distances  from  each  other,  with  castle  piles 
to  defy  attacks  of  robbers,  of  armies,  or  of  time. 
Eoads  and  bridges,  arches,  culverts,  aqueducts  and 
viaducts  were  built,  master-pieces  of  skill  and  strength 
which  still  exist  to  attract  the  admiration  and  amaze 
ment  of  future  ages.  Argosies  of  silver,  gold,  orna 
mental  woods,  dyes,  and  drugs,  floated  oft'  to  old 
Spain.  All  the  surface  of  the  country  was  parcelled 
i  out,  by  royal  grant,  to  favorites  of  fortune  and  the 
Crown.  While  one  class  surrendered  themselves  to 
aggrandizement,  to  high  living,  culture,  politeness, 
elegance,  and  vice;  the  other  was  degraded  into 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAX.  19 

uncared-for  pieces  of  machinery,  of  muscle,  and 
bone.  The  whole  country  regarded  but  as  'the 
mine  and  mint'  of  Spain,  its  agriculture  was  not  only 
neglected,  but  positively  repressed  by  declaring 
titheable  its  natural  luxuriant  productions ;  treated 
as  a  colony  of  vassals,  these  were  not  allowed  to  be 
devoted  to  any  of  those  branches  of  industry  that 
foster  the  independent  and  manly  growth  of  a  people, 
but  solely  to  those  that  would  crush  out  whatever 
there  might  be  of  native  aspiration ;  all  ground  down 
into  one  intense  work  of  digging,  separating,  and 
coining  silver  and  gold;  and  with  the  colonization  of 
other  peoples  prevented,  the  exclusive  Spaniards 
grafted  themselves  upon  the  conquered  and  debased 
aborigines,  and  the  mongrel  blood,  with  the  haughti 
ness  of  the  one  side,  and  the  indifference  of  the  other 
glided  into  the  life  of  the  robber-guerilla,  with  the 
effect  of  perpetuating  the  exclusion  of  other  races  and 
the  non-production  of  the  country. 

"  Such  is  a  brief  history  and  outlined  picture  of 
Mexico  from  '  the  conquest'  down  to  the  '  Indepen 
dence'  of  1821 ;  such  the  unpromising  elements  for 
the  foundation  of  an  independent  political  society  I"* 

It  would  weary  the  reader  without  profit,  to 
recount  the  incessant  revolutions  since  1821.  In 
the  space  of  forty-two  years,  down  to  1863,  Mexico 

*  Dr.  Massey's  lecture  on  Mexico. 


20  MEXICO     JXDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

was  blessed,  (or  cursed)  with  thirty  different  forms  of 
government,  and  with  seventy-five  different  Presi 
dents,  Dictators,  and  other  rulers. 

First,  however,  Iturbide  was  proclaimed  and 
crowned  Emperor :  and  the  empire  of  Mexico  was 
formally  recognized  by  President  Monroe.  Victoria 
the  first  President,  was  succeeded  by  Pedraza,  "  who 
was  declared  successful  by  a  majority  of  only  two 
votes  over  his  competitor,  Guerrero.  Before  Pedraza 
had  taken  his  seat,  he  was  'pronounced'  against  by 
the  defeated  candidate,  who  in  the  course  of  the  year, 
was  successful,  and  Guerrero  was  'declared'  legally 
elected,  with  Bustamente  for  Vice-President.  Guerrero 
had  scarcely  been  installed  when  the  Vice-President 
'pronounced;'  and  Guerrero  was  overthrown,  fled, 
caught,  and  executed  for  treason,  and  Bustamente 
installed  as  President!  But  very  brief  tranquillity 
followed,  and  Santa  Anna  'pronounced'  against 
Bustamente  and  in  favor  of  Pedraza,  whom  he  had 
been  instrumental  in  driving  out  only  two  years 
before!  Bustamente  abdicated,  and  Pedraza  was 
brought  back  to  serve  out  the  remaining  three 
months  of  the  term  for  which  he  had  been  declared 
first  elected,  in  order  that,  upon  the  expiration  of 
that  brief  period,  Santa  Anna  might  thus,  dexterously, 
become  his  successor.  This  accomplished,  in  order 
to  pay  back  a  very  natural  grudge,  when  Santa  Anna 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  21 

had  gone  up  after  the  Texans,  Bustamente  took  the 
opportunity  again  to  usurp  power. 

"But  it  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  even  sketch  any 
more  of  these  usurpations  and  overthrows,  distin 
guished  from  each  other  scarcely  by  the  respective 
pretences  or  plans  of  execution.  At  one  time  the 
'Leperos,'  the  extreme  of  the  degraded  of  that 
population,  after  sacking  the  capital  and  perpetrating 
every  enormity  and  outrage,  became  'the  ruling 
class ;'  and  Alvarez,  with  five  thousand  '  Pintos' 
— the  Indians  of  the  State  of  Guerrero,  whose  skins 
are  spotted  and  eyes  white  with  an  hereditary 
leprosy  peculiar  to  their  mountains — in  rags  and  filth, 
captured  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  'declared'  their 
chief  President.  Alvarez  served  less  than  three 
months,  when,  wearied  of  so  much  civilization,  he 
voluntarily  and  arbitrarily  turned  over  the  govern 
ment  to  Comonfort,  and  betook  himself  to  his  own 
kind,  in  their  own  mountain  passes,  where  he  still 
reigns  ! 

"  The  ease  with  which  the  supreme  authority  could 
be  destroyed  or  overthrown  ;  the  absurd  facility  with 
which  constitutions  and  so-called  constitutional  elec 
tions  could  be  created  or  set  aside  by  any  bold  and 
daring  chieftain,  had  been  established  in  the  first 
months  of  '  independent'  existence  ;  and  experience 
has  shown  how  many  there  were  to  take  advantage 
of  the  example. 


22  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

"  The  part  played  by  the  condition  of  '  the  Public 
Treasury'  can  have  no  stronger  illustration  than  in 
the  fact  that  Herrera,  fortifying  his  exchequer  with 
the  United  States  gold  which  bought  the  '  peace'  of 
1848,  held  on  to  the  Presidency  for  the  whole  term 
for  wliich  he  had  been  selected — the  only  example  in 
history  since  the  first  Presidency."* 

Up  to  the  year  1836,  the  territorial  extent  of 
Mexico  was  twice  as  great  as  at  present.  It  included 
Texas  and  California,  New  Mexico,  Utah,  and 
Arizona.  At  the  end  of  the  Texan  revolution,  in 
1836,  and  when  Texas  became  Anally  separated  from 
Mexico  in  1837,  the  limits  of  that  state  were  not 
accurately  ascertained,  and  the  question  remained  in 
dispute  until  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United 
States  in  1845.  The  annexation  was  followed  by  the 
war  with  Mexico  in  1846  and  1847.  In  1848,  when 
peace  was  made,  we  had  "acquired"  a  generous  slice 
of  Mexico,  including  what  is  now  California,  Utah, 
Nevada,  Colorado,  Arizona,  and  New  Mexico. 
Shorn  of  these  States  and  of  Texas,  Mexico  still  re 
mained,  however,  a  country  of  vast  extent.  It 
stretches  now  through  sixteen  degrees  of  latitude, 
from  the  sixteenth  to  the  thirty-second,  "or  as  far 
as  from  Portland  in  Maine,  to  New  Orleans ;  and 
without  counting  Yucatan  at  all,  through  twenty-live 
degrees  of  longitude,  from  the  fourteenth  to  the 


Dr.  Massey's  lecture  on  Mexico. 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  23 

fortieth,  degree  of  west  longitude,  or  many  miles 
further  than  from  Boston  to  St.  Louis.  From 
the  north-west  corner  of  Mexico  to  the  city  of 
Chiapas,  south  of  the  Gulf  of  Campeacliy,  the  distance 
is  one  thousand  nine  hundred  miles,  while  from  Port 
land  in  Maine  to  Galveston  in  Texas,  it  is  only  one 
thousand -seven  hundred.  From  El  Paso  to  the  city 
of  Mexico  the  distance  is  one  thousand  miles ;  as  far 
as  from  St.  Louis  to  Hartford  in  Connecticut,  or  from. 
Baltimore  to  New  Orleans. 

The  territory  of  Mexico  contains  seven  hundred 
and  ninety  three  thousand  square  miles,  or  more  than 
the  following  twenty-four  states  in  our  own  country, 
namely : 

Virginia contains  61,300  sq.  miles. 

Florida "  59,200  " 

Georgia "  58,000"        " 

Michigan "  56,200"         " 

Alabama "  50,700  " 

Mississippi "  47,100  " 

Wisconsin "  53,900  " 

New  York ,,, "  46,000  " 

Pennsylvania "  46,000" 

Tennessee "  45,600" 

North  Carolina "  45,000" 

Ohio "  39,900  " 

Kentucky "  37,700  " 

Indiana "  33,700  " 


24  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

Maine contains  30,000  sq.  miles 

South  Carolina "         24,500"  " 

Maryland "  9,300  "  " 

New  Jersey "          8,300"  " 

New  Hampshire  and  Vermont .       "         18,200"  " 

Massachusetts  and  Connecticut      "         12,400  "  " 

Delaware  and  Rhode  Island  ...      "          3,30Q  "  " 


Total  786,400  sq.  miles. 

The  above  States  all  lie  together,  and  it  will  be  well 
to  give  a  look  at  them  on  the  map.  They  comprise 
the  whole  of  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  which  lies  east  of  the  Mississippi  river.  Let 
us  glance  now,  at  the  extent  of  the  twenty-eight 
Mexican  States,  as  follows : — 

STATES,  CAPITALS,  AND  POPULATION  OF  MEXICO. 

Mexico  is  divided  into  twenty- two  States,  six  Terri 
tories,  and  a  Federal  District.* 

*-The  Constitution  of  1857,  made  in  this  political  division  of 
Mexico  the  following  alterations  : 

TITLE  II. — SECTION  2.  ART.  43.  The  Mexican  confedera 
tion  is  composed  of  twenty-four  States  and  one  Territory,  the 
names  of  which  are  as  follows  :  Aguascalientes,  Colima,  Chiapa, 
Chihuahua,  Durango,  Guanajuato,  Guerrero,  Jalisco,  Mexico, 
Michoacan,  Nuevo  Leon  and  Cohahuila,  Oajaca,  Puebla,  Quer- 
etaro,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Sinaloa,  Sonora,  Tabasco,  Tamaulipas, 
Tlaxcala,  the  Valley  of  Mexico,  Vera  Cruz,  Yucatan,  Zacatecas, 
and  the  Territory  of  Lower  California. 

ART.  44.  The  States  of  Aguascalientes,  Chiapa,  Chihuahua, 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 


25 


Superficial  or 
square  miles. 


Population 
in  1858. 


States. 

Aguascalientes....     2,739  88,329 

Chiapa 18,679  167,472 

Chihuahua 83,512  164,073 

Cohahuila 36,572  67,590 

Durango. 48,489  144,331 

Guanajuato 11,396  729,103 

Guerrero 32,003  279,109 

Jalisco 48,591  804,058 

Mexico 19,539  1,129,629 

Michoacan 22,993  554,585 

Nuevo  Leon 16,688  145,779 

Oajaca 23;642  525,938 

Puebla 8,879  658,609 

Queretaro 1,884  165,155 

San  Luis  Potosi ...  28,142  397,189 

Sinaloa 33,722  163,714 

Sonora 100,228  139,374 


Capitals.  Inhabitants. 

Aguascalieutes 39,693 

San  Cristobal 7,649 

Chihuahua 12,069 

Saltillo 19,898 

Durango 22,000 

Guanajuato 48,954 

Tixtla 6,501 

Guadalajara 68,000 

Toluca 12,000 

Morelia 25,000 

Monterey 17,309 

Oajaca 25,000 

Puebla 71,631 

Queretaro 29,702 

San  Luis  Bbtosi 19,678 

Caliacan 9,647 

Ures 6,009 


Durango,  Guerrero,  Mexico,  Puebla,  Queretaro,  Sinaloa,  Sonora, 
Tamaulipas,  and  the  Territory  of  Lower  California,  retain  the 
boundaries  which  they  have  had  hitherto  (1857.) 

ART.  45.  The  States  of  Colima  and  of  Tlaxcala  retain,  being 
erected  into  States,  boundaries  which  they  had  when  they 
wrere  only  Territories  of  the  confederacy. 

ART.  46.  The  State  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  comprises  the 
territory  which  has,  until  now,  (1857,)  formed  the  federal  dis 
trict  ;  but  it  will  only  take  rank  as  a  State  when  the  federal 
government  shall  have  been  removed  to  some  other  place. 

ART.  47.  The  State  of  Nuevo  Leon  and  Cohahuila,  com 
prises  the  former  Territory  of  Nuevo  Leon  and  Cohahuila, 
unless  the  hacienda  of  Bonanza  shall  be  re-incorporated  into 
the  State  of  Zacatecas. 

The  other  States,  Guanajuato,  Jalisco,  Vera  Cruz,  and  San 
Luis  Potosi,  make  some  exchanges  of  towns  to  rectify  their 
frontier  lines. 


26 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 


Superficial  or    Population 
Statea.  Square  miles,     in  1858. 

Tabasco 12,359  70,628 

Tamaulipas 30,344  109,673 

VeraCruz 27,415  349,125 

Yucatan 48,869  668,623 

Zacatecas 27,768  296,789 

Territories. 

Lower  California..  60,662  12,000 

Colima 3,019  62,109 

Isla  de  Carman....     7,298  11,807 

Sierra  Gorda 3,127  55,358 

Tehuantepec 12,526  82,395 

Tlaxcala 1,984  90,158 

District. 
Federal  District...          90      260,534    City  of  Mexico 205,000 

Total 793,179     8,400,236 

The  population  has  increased  since  1793   at   the 
following  rate : 


Capitals.          Inhabitants. 

San  Juan  Bautista.     5,300 

Victoria 4,621 

VeraCruz 9,647 

Merida 23,575 

Zacatecas 15,427 

LaPaz 1,254 

Colima 31,774 

V.  del  Carmen 3,068 

San  Luis  de  la  Paz.  4,411 

Minatitlan 339 

Tlaxcala 3,463 


Years.  Population. 

1793 5,273,029 

1803 5,873,100 

1808 6,500,000 

1824 6,500,000 

1830 7,996,000 


Years.  Population. 

1839 7,065,000 

1842 7,015,509 

1851 7,867,520 

1854 7,853,395 

185*8 8,287,413 


The  population  is  composed  of  about  one  million 
white,  descendants  of  Europeans,  four  million  Indians, 
six  thousand  blacks,  and  three  million  four  hundred 
thousand  metis  (part  white  and  part  Indian)  or  mulat- 
toes  (part  white  and  part  black.)  The  foreigners,  to  the 
number  of  nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-four 
in  1838,  are  classed  as  follows :  Spaniards,  five  thous 
and  one  hundred  and  forty-one ;  French,  two  thousand 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  27 

and  forty-eight ;  English,  six  hundred  and  fifteen ; 
Germans,  six  hundard  and  eighty-one  ;  Americans, 
four  hundred  and  forty-four ;  miscellaneous,  four  hun 
dred  and  five. 

In  1856,  the  Mexican  people  rose  against  Santa 
Anna,  and  made  M.  Comonfort  President.  Quarrels 
between  the  "republican"  chiefs,  however,  immedi 
ately  ensued.  Sixteen  days  after  he  had  been  in 
augurated,  Comonfort  felt  it  necessary  to  arrest  Benito 
Juarez,  in  order  to  prevent  the  latter  from  seizing  the 
supreme  power.  On  the  llth  of  January,  1858,  how 
ever,  the  latter  was  released.  He  immediately  set  up 
the  standard  of  revolt,  and  on  the  22d  of  the  same 
month,  he  overthrew  the  administration  of  Comonfort, 
and  proclaimed  himself  President  of  Mexico. 

In  1860,  the  Governments  of  England,  France,  and 
Spain  made  a  simultaneous  demand  upon  Mexico,  for 
the  settlement  of  certain  claims  of  long  standing  due 
to  the  citizens  of  those  countries.  The  Mexican 
treasury,  of  course,  was  empty  as  usual.  Juarez  could 
not  pay  these  claims,  which  amounted  to  forty  mil 
lion  dollars.  The  throe  nations  had  anticipated  this 
inability.  They  sent  a  combined  fleet  and  an  allied 
army,  and  this  allied  force  appeared  off  Yera  Cruz  in 
December,  1861.  This  was  the  commencement  of  the 
French  intervention  in  Mexico. 

Before  this,  however,  certain  American  statesmen 
had  endeavored  to  make  two  treaties  with  Mexico, 


28  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

The  first  was  negotiated  by  Mr.  McLane,  in  Mr. 
Buchanan's  administration,  in  1860. 

That  treaty  would  have  been  vastly  advantageous 
to  us  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  and  would,  in  all 
probability,  have  prevented  the  subsequent  interven 
tion  by  England  and  France,  and  the  present  estab 
lishment  of  the  Mexican  Empire. 

By  this  treaty  the  Mexican  Government  granted 
the  right  of  way  for  railroad  purposes,  through  the 
States  of  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  with  a  protectorate 
over  the  same  ;  in  consideration  of  which  the  United 
States  agreed  to  loan  Juarez  four  millions  of  dollars. 
What  would  have  been  the  result  of  the  ratification 
of  this  treaty  ?  In  the  first  place,  it  would  have 
firmly  established  the  constitutional  republican  gov 
ernment  of  Mexico,  under  President  Juarez.  It  would 
have  enabled  the  latter  to  have  paid  off  the  foreign 
debts  of  Mexico,  thus  taking  away  all  pretence  for 
subsequent  French  interference  ;  and,  finally,  it  would 
have  enabled  the  Mexican  people  to  demonstrate 
whether  or  not  they  were  capable  of  living  under  a 
Republican  Government.  Besides  that,  it  would  have 
given  us  an  opportunity,  and  the  means  of  building  a 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  running  through  Texas, 
with  its  western  terminus  at  the  seaport  of  Guaymas. 
Suppose  the  four  million  dollars  had  never  been  re 
paid,  what  then  ?  We  would  have  a  protectorate  over 
the  whole  of  the  two  northern  States  of  Mexico. 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  29 

They  would  already  be  in  our  possession,  and  they 
would,  ultimately,  have  been  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

WHY  WAS   THE   TREATY   NOT   RATIFIED. 

That  treaty,  however,  failed  to  receive  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  Senate.  It  is  true  that  this  treaty  pledged 
the  United  States  to  uphold  the  Monroe  doctrine  (as 
it  was  then  understood,  and  as  it  has  been  until  now 
understood)  in  Mexico.  AYas  that  the  reason  why  it 
was  not  ratified  ?  Whatever  the  reason  was,  the  re 
fusal  of  the  Senate  to  ratify  this  treaty,  prepared 
the  way  for  the  downfall  of  the  Mexican  Eepublic, 
and  opened  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  the 
empire. 

Mr.  Buchanan,  under  whose  administration  this 
treaty  was  negotiated,  thus  speaks  of  it  :— 

"  The  President  having  failed  in  obtaining  authority 
from  Congress  to  employ  a  military  force  in  Mexico,  as 
a  last  resort  adopted  the  policy  of  concluding  a  treaty 
with  the  Constitutional  Government.  By  this  means  he 
thought  something  might  be  accomplished,  both  to 
satisfy  the  long-deferred  claims  .of  American  citizens, 
and  to  prevent  foreign  interference  with  the  internal  Gov 
ernment  of  Mexico.  Accordingly,  Mr.  McLaue,  on  the 
14th  day  of  December,  1859,  signed  a  'treaty  of  transit 
and  commerce'  with  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  also  a 
1  convention  to  enforce  treat3r  stipulations,  and  to  main 
tain  order  and  security  in  the  territory  of  the  republics 


30  MEXICO    UNDER    .MAXIMILIAN. 

of  Mexico  and  the  United  States.'  These  treaties  se 
cured  peculiar  and  highly  valuable  advantages  to  our 
trade  and  commerce,  especially  in  articles  the  produc 
tion  of  our  agriculture  and  manufactures.  They  also 
guaranteed  to  us  the  secure  possession  of  the  Tehuante- 
pec  route,  and  of  several  other  transit  routes  for  our 
commerce,  free  from  duty,  across  the  territories  of  the 
republic,  on  its  way  to  California  and  our  other  posses 
sions  on  the  northwest  coast,  as  well  as  to  the  inde 
pendent  republics  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  in  eastern 
Asia. 

"In  consideration  of  these  advantages,  'and  in  com 
pensation  for  the  revenue  surrendered  by  Mexico  on  the 
goods  and  merchandize  transported  free  of  duty  through 
the  territory  of  that  republic,  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  agreed  to  pay  the  Government  of  Mexico 
the  sum  of  four  millions  of  dollars.'  Of  this  sum  two 
millions  were  to  be  paid  immediately  to  Mexico,  and  the 
remaining  two  millions  were  to  be  retained  by  our  Gov 
ernment  '  for  the  payment  of  the  claims  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States  against  the  Government  of  the  Re 
public  of  Mexico  for  injuries  already  inflicted,  and 
which  may  be  proven  to  be  just,  according  to  the  law 
and  usages  of  nations  and  the  principles  of  equity.'  It 
was  believed  that  these,  stipulations,  whilst  providing  two 
millions  toward  the  payment  of  the  claims  of  our  citi 
zens,  would  enable  President  Juarez,  with  the  remain 
ing  two  millions,  to  expel  the  usurping  Government  of 
jMiramon  from  the  capital,  and  place  the  Constitutional 
Government  in  possession  of  the  whole  territory  of  the 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIA:>?.  31 

Republic.  This,  we  need  not  say,  would  greatly  pro 
mote  the  interests  of  the  United  States.  Besides,  what 
was  vastly  important,  these  treaties,  by  vesting  in  the 
United  States  territorial  and  commercial  rights  which 
we  would  be  bound  to  defend,  might  for  this  reason 
have  prevented  any  European  Government  from  at 
tempting  to  acquire  dominion  over  the  territories  of 
Mexico,  and  thus  the  Monroe  doctrine  would  probably 
have  remained  inviolate.  With  this  view  Mr.  McLane 
was  seriously  impressed.  In  his  dispatch  of  September 
14,  1859,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  communicating  the 
treaties,  he  expressed  the  apprehension  that,  should 
they  not  be  ratified,  further  anarchy  would  prevail  in 
Mexico,  until  it  should  be  terminated  by  direct  interfer 
ence  from  some  other  quarter. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  18GO,  the  President  submitted 
to  the  Senate  the  treaty  and  the  convention,  with  a 
view  to  their  ratification,  together  with  the  dispatch  of 
Mr.  McLane.  These,  on  the  same  day,  were  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  Whether  any  or 
what  other  proceedings  were  had  in  relation  to  them  we 
are  unable  to  state,  the  injunction  of  secresy  never 
having  been  removed  by  the  Senate.  Mr.  McLane,  who 
was  then  in  Washington,  had  a  conference  with  the 
committee,  and  received  the  impression  that  a  compara 
tive  unanimity  existed  in  favor  of  the  principal  provi 
sions  of  the  treaty  ;  but  in  regard  to  the  convention,  the 
contingency  of  its  possible  abuse  was  referred  to  as 
constituting  an  objection  to  its  ratification.  Certain  it 
is  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  was  ever  approved 


32  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

by  the  Senate,  and  consequently  "both  became  a  dead 
letter.  The  Republic  of  Mexico  was  thus  left  to  its 
fate,  and  has  since  become  an  empire  under  the  domin 
ion  of  a  scion  of  the  House  of  Hapsburg,  protected  by- 
the  Emperor  of  the  French.  The  righteous  claims 
of  American  citizens  have  therefore  been  indefinitely 
postponed. 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN".  33 


CHAPTER   II. 

How  the  Mexican  Empire  came  to  be  Established — Origin  of  the  French 
Intervention — The  United  States  had  "  Conquered  and  Divided"  Mexico, 
and  then  Left  it  to  its  Fate — Touching  Appeal  of  the  Gentlemen  of 
Mexico  to  the  United  States  Government — Its  Rejection — They  Appeal, 
as  a  Last  Resort,  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon — Landing  of  the  French 
Army  at  Yera  Cruz — Military  Operations — Capture  of  Puebla — The 
French  Army  Enters  the  City  of  Mexico — The  Emperor's  Instructions 
to  General  Forey — Contrast  between  our  Treatment  of  Mexico  in  1847, 
and  the  Treatment  of  Mexico  by  Napoleon — Convocation  of  the  Assem 
bly  of  Notables — Their  Address  to  the  Mexican  Nation — General  Forey 
Returns  to  France — He  is  Succeeded  by  General  Bazaine. 

SUCH  was  the  deplorable  condition  of  Mexico,  when 
the  Emperor  Napoleon  determined  to  deliver  that  un 
happy  country  from  anarchy,  and  give  her  a  permanent 
government.  France  Lad  had  claims  of  long  standing 
against  Mexico,  of  which  it  had  been  impossible  to 
obtain  a  settlement,  owing  to  the  absence  of  any  per 
manent  government  with  which  to  treat,  When 
France  made  war  against  Mexico,  in  1861,  what  she 
required  was,  the  redress  of  grievances  and  a  govern 
ment  able  and  willing  to  give  guarantees  for  the 
future.  That  was  certainly  not  more  than  we  had  re 
quired  of  Mexico,  when  we  made  war  against  her  in 
1816.  We  required  ample  indemnity  for  the  past, 
which  we  took  in  the  shape  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  her 
8 


34  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

territory ;  and  security  for  the  future,  which  we  got 
by  reducing  her  to  a  position  of  utter  helplessness. 
We  had  got  all  that  we  cared  for  from  Mexico,  when 
we  "acquired"  California,  Arizona,  Utah,  Colorado, 
and  New  Mexico,  in  1848 ;  and  we  then  left  that 
country  to  her  fate. 

Ten  years  elapsed,  and  the  condition  of  the  country 
became  more  and  more  deplorable.  Then,  in  1859, 
the  intelligent  portion  of  the  people  of  Mexico  made  one 
last  effort  for  the  establishment  of  some  form  of  govern 
ment  that  would  guarantee  public  order  and  private 
interests.  There  was  a  prospect,  at  one  time,  that  this 
would  be  accomplished  by  direct  treaty  with  the 
United  States — the  treaty  negotiated  by  Mr.  McLane. 

The  publication  of  that  treaty,  with  the  accompany 
ing  correspondence,  revealed  the  fact  that  no  govern 
ment  existing  or  likely  to  exist  in  Mexico  had  the 
power  to  give  effect  to  treaty  stipulations,  or  protection 
to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  sojourning  in 
Mexico.  The  accompanying  convention  provided  for 
the  direct  intervention  of  the  military  power  of  the 
United  States  to  enable  the  Mexican  Government  to 
insure  the  due  execution  of  the  commercial  treaty,  and 
to  secure  the  safety  of  the  transits  conceded  by  the 
same. 

This  treaty,  as  well  as  the  subsequent  one  negotiated 
by  Mr.  Corwin  for  the  same  purpose,  failed  to  receive 
the  ratification  of  the  United  States  Senate ;  and  it  is 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN".  35 

not  too  much  to  say  that  the  extinction  of  the  Mexican. 
Eepublic  is  the  result  of  the  failure  of  those  treaties. 
The  Mexicans  who,  in  1863,  invited  Maximilian  to  the 
throne,  before  applying  for  help  in  Europe,  having 
failed  in  securing  the  intervention  of  the  United 
States  Government  in  their  behalf,  "  raised  a  large 
fund,"  says  Mr.  Sylvester  Mowry,  "and  proposed  to 
certain  influential  and  intelligent  gentlemen  in  the 
United  States  to  unite  with  them  in  establishing  in 
Mexico  a  strong  government.  Several  officers  of  the 
old  regular  army  were  enlisted  in  the  cause,  some  of 
them  now  distinguished  and  dear  to  the  American 
people.  The  arrangements  were  being  perfected ;  a 
government  with  probably  Iturbide  at  its  head  was  to 
have  been  established — with  the  administration  of 
affairs  in  American  hands.  Money  to  an  adequate 
amount  to  secure  success  was  obtained — eight  millions 
alone  from  Mexico.  A  memoir  prepared  by  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  New  York  to-day,  assisted  by  McClellan, 
Charles  P.  Stone,  the  writer,  and  the  most  intelligent, 
wealthy,  and  influential  Mexicans,  which,  I  am  in 
formed,  has  been  perused  with  great  pleasure  and 
profit  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  embodied  the  statis 
tics  and  plan  of  the  enterprise.  When  success  was 
certain  if  let  alone,  the  United  States  Government, 
whose  neutrality  was  implored  by  all  worth  recog 
nizing  in  Mexico,  put  out  the  hand  of  authority,  and 
the  enterprise  was  reluctantly  abandoned.  Failing  in 


36  MEXICO    UXDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

getting  either  private  or  public  assistance  here;  the 
Mexicans,  who  had  property  and  life  at  stake,  appealed 
to  Europe,  and  the  throne  of  Maximilian  is  the  result.'.' 

Subsequently,  one  of  these  Mexican  gentlemen  said 
to  Mr.  Mowry : 

"  We  tried,  as  you  know,  for  years  to  get  the  United 
States  to  help  Mexico.  She  would  neither  do  it  as  a 
C  government  nor  permit  an  association  of  private  indi 
viduals  to  do  it.  As  a  last  hope,  we  came  to  Europe, 
and  got  the  help  we  needed.  If  the  United  States 
will  recognize  Maximilian,  or  say  that  they  will  remain 
neutral,  and  -keep  so,  we  can  get  all  the  money  in 
Europe  needed  for  our  government  until  the  home 
revenues  are  sufficient  to  sustain  it  and  pay  the  inter 
est  on  our  national  debt.  If  the  United  States  makes 
war  on  Maximilian  she  makes  war  on  Mexico. 
Europe  will  furnish  us  money  and  men,  and  we,  the 
gentlemen  of  Mexico,  will  gain  in  the  army  at  least 
the  glory  of  dying  for  our  country,  in  defence  of  the 
only  government  worthy  the  name  it  has  had  or  can 
hope  to  have." 

This  was  the  simple,  truthful  sentiment  of  the  intel 
ligent,  wealthy,  decent/  responsible  people  of  Mexico. 

The  French  forces  landed  at  Yera  Cruz  in  December, 
1861.  The  whole  of  the  year  1862  passed  away  without 
any  serious  movement  being  made  by  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  for  the  conquest  of  Mexico.  His  army  was 
on  the  spot,  making  demonstrations  toward  Puebla 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  37 

but  it  would  seem  that  he  was  waiting  to  see  whether  our 
government  would  take  any  step  to  uphold  the  Monroe 
doctrine.  No  obstacle  was  placed  in  his  way  by  our 
government,  however,  and  on  the  19th  of  November, 
1862,  Mr.  Convin  wrote  to  Mr.  Seward  that  there  were 
then  forty-two  thousand  French  troops  besieging 
Puebla,  and  that  the  capture  of  the  city  of  Mexico  it 
self  would  speedily  follow  that  of  Puebla.  On  the 
27th  of  January,  1863,  there  were  twenty  thousand 
Mexican  troops  defending  Puebla,  which  was  strongly 
fortified;  while  on  the  1st  of  May,  1863,  General 
Comonfort,  with  iifteen  thousand  additional  Mexican 
troops,  was  advancing  to  the  relief  of  the  place.  Be 
fore  the  end  of  May,  however,  Comonfort  was  defeated, 
and  Puebla  was  captured  by  the  French.  Early  in 
June,  1863,  Juarez  evacuated  the  city  of  Mexico,  and 
on  the  12th,  General  Forey  entered  and  took  posses 
sion  of  the  capital. 

This  is  the  proper  place  to  examine  the  instructions 
of  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  under  which  these  military 
operations  were  conducted.  They  are  contained  in 
his  letter  to  General  Forey,  as  follows : 

"  THE  EMPEROR  TO  GENERAL  FOREY. 

"  FONTAINEBLEAU,  Jill]/  3,   18G2. 

"MY  DEAR  GENERAL: — At  the  moment  when  you  are 
about  to  leave  for  Mexico,  charged  with  political  and 
military  powers,'  I  deem  it  useful  that  you  should  un 
derstand  my  wishes. 


38  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

"  This  is  the  line  of  conduct  which  you  are  expected 
to  pursue:  1.  To  issue  a  proclamation  on  your  arrival, 
the  principal  ideas  of  which  will  be  indicated  to  you. 
2.  To  receive  with  the  greatest  kindness  all  Mexicans 
who  may  join  you.  3.  To  espouse  the  quarrel  of  no 
party,  but  to  announce  that  all  is  provisional  until  the 
Mexican  nation  shall  have  declared  its  wishes ;  to  show 
a  great  respect  for  religion,  but  to  reassure  at  the  same 
time  the  holders  of  national  property.  4.  To  supply, 
pay,  and  arm,  according  to  your  ability,  the  auxiliary 
Mexican  troops :  to  give  them  the  chief  part  in  com 
bats.  5.  To  maintain  among  your  troops,  as  well  as 
among  the  auxiliaries,  the  most  severe  discipline  ;  to 
repress  with  vigor  every  act,  every  design,  which  might 
wound  the  Mexicans,  for  their  pride  of  character  must 
not  be  forgotten,  and  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to  the 
success  of  the  undertaking  to  conciliate  the  good  will 
of  the  people. 

"  When  we  shall  have  reached  the  city  of  Mexico,  it 
is  desirable  that  you  should  have  an  understanding 
with  the  notable  persons  of  every  shade  of  opinion  who 
shall  have  espoused  our  cause,  in  order  to  organize  a 
provisional  government.  This  government  will  submit 
to  the  Mexican  people  the  question  of  the  form  of 
political  rule  which  shall  be  definitively  established. 
An  assembly  will  be  afterward  elected  in  accordance 
with  the  Mexican  laws. 

"  You  will  aid  the  new  government  to  introduce  into 
the  administration  of  affairs,  and  especially  into  the 
finances,  that  regularity  of  which  France  offers  the  best 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  39 

example.  To  effect  this,  persons  will  be  sent  thither 
capable  of  aiding  this  new  organization. 

"  The  end  to  be  attained  is  not  to  impose  upon  the 
Mexicans  a  form  of  government  which  will  be  distaste 
ful  to  them,  but  to  aid  them  to  establish,  in  conformity 
with  their  wishes,  a  government  which  may  have  some 
chance  of  stability,  and  will  assure  to  France  the  re 
dress  of  the  wrongs  of  which  she  complains. 

"It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  if  they  prefer  a  mon 
archy  it  is  in  the  interest  of  France  to  aid  them  in  this 
path. 

"  Persons  will  not  be  wanting  who  will  ask  you  why 
we  propose  to  spend  men  and  money  to  establish  a 
regular  government  in  Mexico. 

"  In  the  present  state  of  the  world's  civilization  Eu 
rope  is  not  indifferent  to  the  prosperity  of  America; 
for  it  is  she  which  nourishes  our  industry  and  gives  life 
to  our  commerce.  It  is  our  interest  that  the  Republic 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  powerful  and  prosperous, 
but  it  is  not  at  all  to  our  interest  that  she  should  grasp 
the  whole  Gulf  of  Mexico,  rule  thence  the  Antilles  as 
wrell  as  South  America,  and  be  the  sole  dispenser  of 
the  products  of  the  Xew  World.  We  see  to-day,  by 
sad  experience,  how  precarious  is  the  fate  of  an  indus 
try  which  is  forced  to  seek  its  raw  material  in  a  single 
market,  under  all  the  vicissitudes  to  which  that  market 
is  subject. 

"  If,  on  the  contrary,  Mexico  preserve  its  independ 
ence,  and  maintain  the  integrity  of  its  territory,  if  a 
stable  government  be  there  established  with  the  aid  of 


40  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

France,  we  shall  have  restored  to  the  Latin  race  on  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean  its  force  and  its  prestige ;  we 
shall  have  guaranteed  the  safety  of  our  own  and  the 
Spanish  colonies  in  the  Antilles.  We  shall  have  estab 
lished  our  benign  influence  in  the  centre  of  America, 
and  this  influence,  while  creating  immense  outlets  for 
our  commerce,  will  procure  the  raw  material  which  is 
indispensable  to  our  industry. 

"  Mexico,  thus  regenerated,  will  always  be  favorable 
to  us,  not  only  from  gratitude,  but  also  because  hei; 
interests  will  be  identical  with  our  own,  and  because 
she  will  find  a  support  in  the  good  will  of  European 
powers. 

"  To-day,  therefore,  our  military  honor  involved,  the 
demands  of  our  policy,  the  interest  of  our  industry  and 
our  commerce,  all  impose  upon  us  the  duty  of  march 
ing  upon  Mexico,  there  boldly  planting  our  flag,  and 
establishing  perhaps  a  monarchy,  if  not  incompatible^ 
with  the  national  sentiment  of  the  country,  but  at  least 
a  government  which  will  promise  some  stability. 

"  NAPOLEON." 

These  admirable  instructions  were  faithfully  car 
ried  out.  On  the  12th  of  June,  1863,  the  French 
army,  under  General  Forey,  entered  the  city  of 
Mexico  as  conquerors,  precisely  the  same  as  the 
American  army,  under  General  Scott,  had  entered 
that  capital  in  1847.  At  that  time,  and  in  1848,  , 
the  good  citizens  of  Mexico,  the  men  of  wealth, 
of  property,  and  of  education,  implored  General 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  41 

Scott  to  remain,  and  give  them  a  good  govern 
ment.  They  wished  to  put  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  the  United  States  government,  and 
offered  to  do  so.  The  United  States  government 
laughed  at  them.  They  cut  off  a  generous  slice  of 
the  country,  including  the  whole  of  California,  Utah, 
New  Mexico,  Arizona,  Colorado,  etc.,  and  left  the 
rest  of  Mexico  to  her  fate.  The  eleven  years  of  an- 

hy  followed,  from  1849  to  1860. 

Now  let  the  reader  observe  how  differently  Napo 
leon  treated  the  country.  He  had,  in  1863,  the  same 
right  that  we  had,  in  1847,  to  seize  upon  three  or  four 
rich  Mexican  States,  and  make  French  provinces  of 
them.  Did  he  do  so  ?  No.  Let  us  observe  what  he 
did  do. 

On  the  16th  of  June,  1863,  General  Forey,  after 
consultation  with  the  French  minister  residing  in 
Mexico,  called  together  thirty-five  of  the  most  emi 
nent  citizens  of  the  country,  men  distinguished  both 
for  their  abilities  and  their  virtues,  and  deliberated 
with  them  in  regard  to  the  state  of  the  country. 
These  gentlemen  were  men  acquainted  with  every 
body  of  note  or  prominence  in  the  whole  country. 
It  was  agreed  that  they  should  designate  two  hundred  J\ 
and  fifteen  Mexican  citizens,  from  the  various  States, 
constituting,  with  themselves,  an  Assembly  of  Nota 
bles,  to  whom  should  be  intrusted  the  duty  of  deter 
mining  upon  the  form  of  government  to  be  adopted. 


42  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

The  supreme  executive  power  being  vested  tempora 
rily  in  three  eminent  Mexican  citizens,  Messrs.  Al 
monte,  Sal  as,  and  Ormaechea,  they  issued,  on  the 
24th  of  June,  1863,  the  following  manifesto  to  the 
Mexican  nation : 

"MANIFESTO   OF  THE   SUPREME  EXECUTIVE   POWER  TO 
THE  NATION. 

"  MEXICANS  : — Having  been  appointed  by  the  supe 
rior  committee  of  government,  to  exercise  the  supre 
powers  of  the  nation,  it  is  right  that  we  should  instruct 
you  of  the  very  grave  situation  in  which  we  find  our 
selves,  and  of  our  designs  in  fulfilling  the  mighty 
charge  that  we  have  received. 

"  Never  was  the  Mexican  nation  seen  with  more  mis 
fortunes  nor  with  more  solid  hopes.  A  disciplined  and 
courageous  army,  a  great  and  civilized  power,  have 
undertaken  to  save  us  from  the  unfathomable  abyss  of 
evils  to  which,  as  blindly  as  impiousty,  a  misled  minor 
ity  of  our  countrymen  have  brought  us.  They  labor 
for  our  national  restoration  not  by  the  terror  of  arms, 
nor  by  anti-social  principles. 

"  The  force  that  comes  to  protect  us  will  only  be 
used  to  conquer  that  which  persists  in  destroying  us ; 
to  the  errors  which  have  perverted  us  there  will  be 
opposed  the  truths  that  regenerate  nations ;  to  the 
demoralization  which  has  overturned  every  thing  there 
will  be  applied  the  justice  which  maintains  the  order  of 
nations. 

"  We  know  how  manv  sophisms  and  calumnies  those 


MEXICO     UNDEK     MAXIMILIAN.  43 

who  have  persisted  in  our  ruin  have  employed  and  em 
ploy  to  diffuse  among  you  aversion  or  mistrust  with 
respect  to  the  intervention.  Compare  their  sophisms 
with  the  facts  which  you  behold  ;  their  calumnies  with 
the  conduct  which  is  observed  ;  their  insidious  prom 
ises  with  the  evidence  of  the  disasters  and  desolation 
that  3'ou  contemplate.  Compare  the  deeds  with  the 
words  of  the  magnanimous  and  enlightened  Emperor  : 
No  hostility  to  the  nation,  and  sufficient  mildness  even 
toward  those  who  compromise  it  and  tyrannize  over  it. 

"  Driving  from  the  capital  the  power  which  the  pre 
tended  constitution  of  1857  systematized  in  evil,  by 
evil,  and  for  evil,  the  representatives  of  the  Emperor 
have  made  no  delay  in  establishing  the  provisional 
Mexican  government,  which  will  govern  until  the  na 
tion,  more  amply  represented,  shall  fix  freely  and  defi 
nitely  the  form  of  government  which  Mexicans  ought  to 
have  permanently.  The  chimeras  of  conquest  with 
which  it  was  attempted  to  alarm  the  thoughtless  are 
made  evident  and  vanish.  Mexico  has  again  self-gov 
ernment,  and  is  able  and  at  liberty  to  choose,  among 
all  the  political  institutions,  that  which  suits  it  best, 
and  has  the  most  glorious  titles  and  firmest  guarantees 
of  stability. 

"  In  the  mean  time  it  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  govern 
ad  interim  this  suffering  and  disorganized  nation  ;  a 
task  immensely  arduous  and  complicated,  and  much 
superior  to  our  strength.  Can  we,  in  our  transitory 
administration,  repair  the  disorders  and  injuries  of  half 
a  century  ?  That  which  was  founded  by  three  centu- 


44:  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

ries  of  peace,  and  a  gradual  progress,  is  not  restored  in 
a  few  days  ;  we  can  only  aspire  to  take  the  road  and 
guide  3rou  in  the  first  steps.  No  doubt  Divine  Provi 
dence  reserves  to  more  competent  persons  the  consum 
mating  all  the  moral,  social,  political,  and  industrial 
restoration  of  Mexico. 

"  The  work  is  grand,  and  will  be  the  sooner  realized 
according  as  your  co-operation  is  decided  and  general. 
We  shall  do  very  little  if  just  men  of  all  classes,  par 
ties,  and  ranks  of  our  society  do  not  aid  our  intentions 
in  their  respective  spheres. 

"  We  behold  you  vacillating  and  uncertain  about  the 
future  of  our  beloved  country,  as  dejected  with  cares 
and  anxieties,  as  fearful  of  new  misfortunes,  anxious 
for  peace,  and  distrustful  of  provoking  new  wars ; 
ruined  and  panting  for  tranquillity  to  restore  your  for 
tunes,  with  aversion  for  the  political  and  administra 
tive  theories  which  we  have  tried,  and  jealous  of  trying 
other  new  ones.  Order  and  disorder,  misery  and  pros 
perity,  conciliation  and  discord,  are  at  your  choice. 
You  have  two  powers  in  view — one  whose  long  tyranny 
and  bad  passions  you  have  so  wofully  experienced,  and 
another  whose  measured  and  just  behavior  you  are  able 
to  observe  :  the  one  which  is  not  satisfied  with  all  your 
treasures,  nor  with  your  most  necessary  furniture,  and 
the  other  which  commences  by  relieving  you  of  taxes, 
and  introducing  the  severest  economy :  the  one  which 
fled  from  this  city  without  any  other  support  than  the 
faction  whose  illegitimate  interests  it  foments,  and  the 
other  which,  solidly  fixed  in  Europe,  will  rest  upon  the 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  45 

legitimate  interest  and  cardinal  principles  of  society : 
that,  in  short,  which,  sacrificing  to  personal  interest,  or 
that  of  party,  all  that  was  orderly,  just,  useful,  respect 
able,  and  sacred,  brought  our  country  to  wars,  and  this, 
which,  by  the  light  and  unconquered  force  of  Catholi 
cism,  according  to  the  invincible  rules  of  good  govern 
ment,  and  supported  by  the  bountiful  protection  of 
France,  omitted  nothing,  that  Mexico  may  rise  in  the 
New  World,  as  vigorous,  enlightened,  and  improved  as 
corresponds  to  the  admirable  abundance  of  her  ele 
ments  of  prosperity. 

"  Very  grave  affairs  are  about  to  occupy  our  atten 
tion.  Peace,  which  has  its  roots  only  in  justice  and 
well-defined  liberty  ;  agriculture,  now  so  decayed,  the 
basis  of  every  kind  of  industry,  and  which,  for  so  long, 
has  been  the  comman  prey  of  revolutionists  and  high 
waymen  ;  commerce,  so  paralyzed  and  fallen,  from  the 
public  insecurity  in  the  country;  mining,  a  first-rate 
branch  of  industry,  in  decay  from  the  prejudices  and 
special  burden  which  it  has  suffered ;  the  unmeasured 
exactions  in  the  towns  and  the  demoralization  in  agree 
ments  ;  the  arts  either  destroyed  or  impoverished  ;  the 
administration  of  justice,  with  some  honorable  excep 
tions,  so  corrupt  and  tardy ;  security  on  the  highways 
or  in  the  inhabited  places  altogether  lost ;  the  vagrancy 
of  all  classes  and  ranks  serving  as  a  food  for  disorder 
and  national  depravation ;  finally,  the  reparation  of  the 
moral  and  physical  disasters  made  by  the  so-called  sys 
tem  of  liberty  and  reform,  for  which  the  two  powers 
will  co-operate  together  as  far  as  concerns  them,  united 


46  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

or  separate,  and  the  tribunals  in  cases  within  their 
competency. 

"  The  well-deserving  army  will  likewise  merit  a  pre 
ferable  attention,  and  their  sufferings  will  be  taken  into 
consideration,  proceeding,  without  delay,  to  its  reor 
ganization.  The  worthy  mutilated  of  the  national  inde 
pendence  will  not  be  forgotten,  nor  less  the  suffering 
widows  of  the  honored  soldiers  who  have  died  in  de 
fence  of  their  country. 

"  The  Catholic  religion  is  re-established  and  free. 
The  church  will  exercise  its  authority  without  having 
an  enemy  in  the  government,  and  the  State  will  concert 
with  it  the  manner  of  resolving  the  grave  questions 
which  are  pendant. 

"  The  atheism  which  has  been  planted  in  the  estab 
lishments  of  instruction,  and  the  infamous  propaganda 
of  immoral  doctrines  which  have  ruined  us,  must  cease. 
Catholic  instruction,  solid  and  of  the  greatest  possible 
extent,  and  new  literary  careers  and  guarantees  for 
good  teachers,  will  be  the  object  of  our  labors. 

"  We  have  still  to  get  rid  of  the  so-called  constitu 
tional  government,  which  is  only  able  and  only  knows 
to  do  evil,  which  courts  no  good  in  its  career  of  inno 
vations  and  destruction.  Whilst  it  exists,  we  Mexi 
cans  shall  have  no  peace,  nor  our  fortunes  security,  nor 
commerce  increase.  The  Franco-Mexican  army  will, 
as  the  first  act  they  perform,  pursue  it  until  it  surren 
ders  or  is  driven  from  the  national  territory,  and  in 
proportion  as  the  towns  shake  off  their  intolerable 
yoke,  they  will  begin  to  feel  the  repose  and  prosperity 


MEXICO    UXDEK     MAXIMILIAN.  47 

which  the  people  already  liberated  enjoy.  At  the  same 
time  suitable  measures  will  be  dictated  to  expedite  the 
pacification  of  the  departments,  and  diminish  the  ruin 
which  the  agents  of  demagogism  still  occasion  them. 

"  Our  misdeeds,  and  the  acts  committed  by  terrorists 
against  friendly  nations,  have  discredited  us  in  the  Old 
World.  Good  and  dignified  relations  will  be  opened 
again  with  injured  governments  and  with  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff;  every  effort  will  be  made  to  ratify  the  obliga 
tions  of  Mexico  with  friendly  powers,  and  with  the  pro 
tection  of  France  and  the  other  nations  that  shall 
support  the  new  government,  we  shall  be  respected 
abroad,  and  the  honor  and  credit  of  the  nation  will  be 
repaired. 

"  We  have  told  you  frankly  what  we  think  of  the  new 
situation,  and  what  we  intend  to  do  in  the  difficult 
commission  which  we  have  received,  in  spite  of  our 
insufficiency.  Much  will  be  done  if  eminent  men  of  all 
kinds  assist.  Let  our  disgraceful  discord  at  last  end. 
Let  the  scandal  which  we  have  given  to  the  world 
cease.  Let  there  be  concord,  union,  peace,  and  public 
spirit  among  us.  Let  the  sordid  speculations  at  public 
misfortunes  be  extirpated,  and  let  those  riches  be 
turned  to  great  and /lucrative  industrial  enterprises. 
Let  honest  labor  be  the  foundation  of  fortunes ;  let 
functionaries  have  no  power  over  the  laws,  nor  the  laws 
over  moralit}*.  Let  religion  and  authority,  property 
nnd  liberty,  order  and  peace,  be  at  last  precious  reali 
ties  for  Mexicans.  May  the  God  of  armies,  who  has  so 
directly  favored  our  cause,  reward  the  generosity  and 


48  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

sincere  intervention  of  France,  and  the  patriotic  inten 
tion  with  which  wre  good  Mexicans  have  accepted  it, 
with  the  speedy  grandeur  and  prosperity  of  the  nation. 
"  Palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power  in  Mexico, 
the  24th  of  June,  1863. 

"JUAN  N.  ALMONTE. 

"JOSE  MARIANO  SALAS. 

"JUAN  B.  ORMAECHEA." 

Having  thus  terminated  the  great  mission  which 
had  been  intrusted  to  him,  General  Forey  returned  to 
France.  He  was  succeeded  in  command  of  the  French 
army  in  Mexico  by  General  Bazaine,  to  whom,  on  the 
17th  of  August,  1863,  the  Emperor  Napoletea^efit  the 
following  letter  of  instructions  : 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  49 


CIIAPTEE  III. 

The  Emperor's  Instructions  to  General  Bazaine — Proceedings  of  the  Assem 
bly  of  Notables — They  Determine  upon  a  Limited  Monarchy,  and  Offer 
the  Crown  of  Mexico  to  Prince  Maximilian — A  Deputation  of  the  Nota 
bles  Proceeds  to  Europe — Offer  of  the  Crown  to  Maximilian — Remarkable 
Reply  of  Prince  Maximilian  to  the  Ofl'er  of  the  Crown — The  Conditions 
upon  which  he  Bases  his  Consent — Approval  of  these  Conditions  by  tha 
Emperor  Napoleon. 

THE  EMPEROR'S  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  MARSHAL  BAZAINE. 

"PARIS,  August  17,  18G3. 

"  GENERAL  : — At  the  moment  in  which  3-011  find  your 
self  invested  with  the  plenitude  of  political  and  military 
power,  and  when,  thanks  to  the  heroism  of  our  soldiers 
and  the  skill  of  our  chiefs,  the  elaboration  of  a  new 
political  regime  supersedes  the  clash  of  arms  in  Mexico, 
I  deem  it  useful  to  retrace  once  more  the  ideas  with 
which  the  Emperor's  government  is  inspired.  Those 
ideas  have  been  clearly  indicated  in  the  letter  addressed 
by  his  majesty  to  General  Forey,  July  3,  1862,  and  to 
this  memorable  document  we  must  always  refer. 

"I  shall  not  return  to  enumerate  the  facts  which 
caused  our  intervention,  or  the  incidents,  too  well 
known,  which  have  signalized  the  first  phase  of  it, 
whilst  we  were  engaged  in  collective  action  with  other 
powers.  I  refer  to  them  merely  to  call  to  mind  the  fact 
that,  left  alone,  we  have  used  our  independence  only  to 
4 


50  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

pursue  the  work  which  it  was  not  in  our  power  to 
accomplish  in  conjunction  with  the  rest,  and  without 
deviating  from  the  line  which,  from  the  beginning,  we 
had  traced  out  for  ourselves,  and  which  we  had  indi 
cated  to  our  allies.  In  acting  thus,  we  believe  that  we 
serve  the  general  interests  of  Europe. 

"  We  have  recognized  that  the  legitimacy  of  our  inter 
vention  resulted  solely  from  our  grievances  against  the 
government  of  that  country;  we  have  declared  that, 
whatever  rights  war  conferred  on  us,  we  sought  neither 
conquest  nor  colonial  establishment,  nor  even  any  politi 
cal  or  commercial  advantage  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
powers.  Penetrated,  however,  with  the  idea,  which 
several  onerous  experiences  justified,  that  an  expedition, 
analogous  to  those  of  which  the  traditional  proceedings 
of  the  Mexican  Government  have  so  often  imposed  on 
us  and  others  the  necessity,  would  assure  us  only  very 
precarious  satisfaction  and  no  guarantees  for  the  future, 
we  have  thought  that  it  would  be  worthy  of  us  and  pro 
fitable  for  all  to  remind  the  Mexican  people  of  the  ini 
quities  of  their  government,  and  to  afford  them,  if  they 
desired  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  the  occasion  and  the 
means  to  react  against  the  elements  of  dissolution 
accumulated  on  their  soil  by  a  deplorable  succession  of 
anarchical  powers.  We  applaud  ourselves  heartily  now 
for  not  having  despaired  of  the  good  sense  and  patriot 
ism  of  the  Mexican  nation.  For  the  rest,  we  most 
unequivocally  eschew,  as  you  are  aware,  any  intention 
of  substituting  our  influence  in  place  of  the  free  resolu 
tions  of  the  country  ;  we  promise  it  our  moral  support 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  51 

to  second  whatever  efforts  it  may  wish  to  make  in  its 
own  independence ;  but  it  is  from  its  own  loins  that  its 
regeneration  must  issue. 

"  We  have  received  with  pleasure,  as  a  symptom  of 
favorable  augury,  the  manifestation  of  the  Assembly  of 
Notables  of  Mexico  in  favor  of  the  establishment  of  a  mon 
archy,  and  the  name  of  the  prince  called  to  the  empire. 
However,  as  I  have  indicated  to  you  in  a  preceding  dis 
patch,  we  can  consider  the  votes  of  the  Assembly  at  Mex-\ 
ico  only  as  the  first  indication  of  the  disposition  of  the 
country.  With  all  the  authority  which  attaches  to  the 
eminent  men  who  compose  it,  the  Assembly  recommends 
to  its  fellow-countrymen  the  adoption  of  monarchical 
institutions,  and  it  designates  a  prince  for  their  suffrages. 
It  belongs,  however,  to  the  provisional  government  to 
collect  those  suffrages  in  such  a  manner  as  to  banish  all 
doubt  in  regard  to  the  expression  of  the  will  of  the 
country.  It  is  not  my  part  to  indicate  to  you  the  mode 
to  be  adopted  in  order  that  this  indispensable  result 
should  be  completely  attained  ;  we  must  search  for  this 
in  the  local  customs  and  institutions.  Whether  the 
municipalities  should  be  called  upon  to  declare  their 
wishes  in  the  different  provinces  according  as  they  shall 
have  recovered  the  free  disposal  of  themselves,  or 
whether  the  lists  should  be  opened  by  their  care  in  order 
to  collect  the  votes,  the  best  method  will  be  that  which 
shall  insure  the  largest  manifestation  of  the  popular 
will  in  all  its  independence  and  sincerity.  General,  the 
Emperor  particularly  recommends  this  essential  point 
to  your  most  careful  attention. 


52  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN". 

"  Other  questions  at  the  same  time  demand  your 
solicitude.  AYe  have  flattered  ourselves  with  the  idea 
that  we  represent  in  Mexico  the  cause  of  progress  and 
of  civilization,  and  our  regard  for  our  responsibility  does 
not  permit  us  to  accept  the  species  of  provisional 
guardianship  with  which  we  are  invested  by  circum 
stances,  except  on  condition  of  serving  that  cause  faith 
fully  by  our  counsels  and  by  our  actions.  From  this 
point  of  view,  we  have  to  regret  certain  measures  which 
contrast  in  an  unfavorable  manner  with  the  ideas  which 
we  ought  to  strive  to  establish.  Sequestrations,  prohib 
itions,  outlawries,  have  too  often  been,  in  Mexico,  the 
arms  used  by  parties  in  straits,  in  their  desperate  con 
tests — too  often,  indeed,  not  to  interdict  the  use  of  them 
to  a  government  that  goes  to  conserve  and  restore. 
Adopted,  doubtless,  in  view  of  the  urgent  necessities  of 
which  I  cannot  judge,  they  can  have  but  a  provisional 
character,  and  at  the  moment  at  which  I  write  to  you 
they  are  certainly  revoked,  if  they  have  not  been  already 
so  at  the  reception  of  the  instructions  sent  out  by  the 
last  packet. 

"  The  reorganization  of  the  Mexican  array  is  one  of 
the  most  important  questions  which  should,  at  present, 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  provisional  government  and 
yours.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  minister  of  war  to  transmit 
special  instructions  to  you  on  this  point.  I  will  confine 
myself  to  saying,  that,  the  desire  of  the  Emperor's  gov 
ernment  being  to  restrict,  as  promptly  as  circumstances 
will  permit,  the  extent  and  the  duration  of  our  occupa 
tion,  it  is  essential  that  this  reorganization  should  be 


MEXICO    UXDEK    MAXIMILIAN.  53 

pushed  forward  with  all  possible  activity,  and  that  it  is 
desirable  that  in  future,  and  in  proportion  to  the  pro 
gress  realized,  an  honorable  share  of  duty  should  be 
assigned  to  the  Mexican  army.  In  the  interest  of  the 
country  and  its  ulterior  development,  as  well  as  to  pro 
vide  for  present  necessities,  I  recommend  you  to  press 
upon  the  government  the  duty  of  applying  its  utmost 
care  to  multiply  the  means  of  communication,  and  to 
assure,  on  the  roads  which  now  exist,  security  of  trans 
portation  and  rapid  exchange  of  correspondence. 

"  Without  directly  substituting  your  initiative  for 
that  of  the  government,  all  your  counsels,  General, 
should  tend  to  have  the  administration,  properly  so- 
called,  reconstituted  in  conditions  of  regularity  and 
strength,  such  as  may  give  confidence  to  the  country 
and  reassure  it  against  all  ideas  of  reactionary  and  ex 
clusive  policy.  Under  the  shadow  of  our  flag,  all 
parties  can  be  worthily  reconciled,  and  we  will  induce 
them  to  this ;  but  as  we  repudiate  their  passions,  we 
must  never  allow  it  to  serve  as  a  shelter  for  them  to 
work  out  their  revenges. 

"  The  same  principles  should  preside  over  the  reor 
ganization  of  the  judicial  administration,  and  you  will 
have  to  recommend  to  the  government,  to  be  inspired 
with  them  in  the  choice  of  magistrates  and  in  the 
impulse  which  it  will  give  them,  the  independence  and 
honesty  of  the  magistracy  being  able  to  contribute 
powerfully  to  elevate  the  moral  state  of  a  people  among 
whom  the  notions  of  right  must  have  been  very  much 
blunted  by  the  contact  of  so  many  revolutions. 


54:  MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

"  The  existing  administrative  and  judicial  institutions 
appear,  moreover,  to  answer  the  wants  and  customs  of 
the  country.  Your  counsels  should,  therefore,  be 
directed,  in  this  regard,  rather  to  the  choice  of  function 
aries  and  the  directions  to  be  impressed  upon  them, 
than  to  the  institutions  themselves. 

"It  is  not  entirely  so  with  regard  to  the  finances. 
We  have  there,  moreover,  a  direct  interest,  which  com 
mands  us  to  watch  more  closely  over  the  execution  of 
such  regulations  as  ought  to  assure  to  the  country  the 
benefits  of  a  regular  system  of  accountability.  The 
proper  management  of  the  public  money  is  the  guaran 
tee  of  our  debts,  and,  from  this  point  of  view,  we  have 
good  reason  to  exercise  an  active  control  over  the  finan 
cial  administration.  We  have,  for  the  rest,  as  far  as 
depended  on  us,  facilitated  its  reorganization  b\T  assur 
ing  to  it  the  precious  support  of  special  agents  delegated 
for  that  purpose  by  the  minister  of  finance.  Under 
their  enlightened  influence,  the  germs  of  prosper! t}7,  so 
varied  and  abundant,  which  the  country  possesses  can 
not  fail  to  be  rapidly  developed. 

"  I  have  spoken  of  our  claims.  They  are,  as  you 
know,  General,  of  two  kinds  :  those  which  are  anterior 
to  the  war,  and  those  which  have  their  origin  in  the  war. 
As  to  the  former,  they  will  be  all  referred  for  examina 
tion  to  a  commission  which  shall  be  instituted  in  con 
nection  with  my  department,  and  which  shall  be  com 
posed  in  such  a  way  as  to  assure  an  unquestionable 
authority  to  its  decisions.  The  total  amount  to  be 
presented  to  the  Mexican  Government  will  be  composed 


MEXICO    UNDIvR    MAXIMILIAN.  55 

of  the  sum  of  all  these  claims  that  shall  be  recognized 
by  the  commission  as  legitimately  founded  in  justice. 

"As  to  those  which  proceed  from  the  war  which  we 
arc  now  maintaining,  my  colleagues  in  the  departments 
of  war  and  marine  are  occupied  in  combining  such 
elements  as  will  allow  them  to  form  a  proper  estimate 
of  the  expenses  of  which  we  shall  have  to  claim  reim 
bursement.  We  shall  most  likely  be  able  to  transmit  to 
you,  by  the  next  packet,  the  result  of  this  labor,  and  you 
will  then  have  to  present  to  the  provisional  government 
for  acceptance  the  demand  for  reimbursement  of  the 
sum  which  shall  be  indicated  to  you. 

"DROUYX  DE  LIIUYS." 

The  Assembly  of  Notables  comprised  the  men  who 
had,  in  1848  and  18-49,  and  again  in  I860,  implored 
the  United  States  to  save  Mexico  and  give  her  a  good 
government.  Let  the  reader  remember  the  experience 
they  had  had,  of  forty  years  of  anarchy  in  Mexico, 
owing  to  the  want  of  a  good  government.  Let  the 
efforts  be  remembered  which  they  had  made  to  estab 
lish  a  good  government  themselves,  under  the  protec 
tion  of  the  United  States.  Let  it  be  remembered  how 
all  their  efforts  had  foiled,  and  how  they  and  their 
country  had  been  spurned  by  the  United  States,  and 
the  latter  given  up  by  us  to  continued  anarchy. 

But  there  was  one  great  power  that  had  not  despised 
them ;  there  was  one  powerful  hand  stretched  out  to 
save  their  country  and  to  give  them  a  good  govern- 


56  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

ment.     They  were  not  fools,  neither  were  they  un 
grateful.     Here  is  their  action : 

"  The  provisional  supreme  executive  power  of  the 
nation  to  the  inhabitants  thereof:  Know  ye  that  the 
Assembly  of  Notables  has  thought  fit  to  decree  as 
follows : 

"  '  The  Assembly  of  Notables,  in  virtue  of  the  decree 
of  the  1 6th  ultimo,  that  it  should  make  known  the  form 
of  government  which  best  suited  the  nation,  in  use  of 
the  full  right  which  the  nation  has  to  constitute  itself, 
and  as  its  organ  and  interpreter,  declares,  with  absolute 
liberty  and  independence,  as  follows : 

" '  1.  The  Mexican  nation  adopts  as  its  form  of  gov 
ernment  a  limited  hereditary  monarchy,  with  a  Catholic 
prince. 

" '  2.  The  sovereign  shall  take  the  title  of  Emperor 
of  Mexico. 

" '  3.  The  imperial  crown  of  Mexico  is  offered  to  his 
imperial  and  royal  highness  the  Prince  Ferdinand  Max 
imilian,  Archduke  of  Austria,  for  himself  and  his  de 
scendants. 

"'  4.  If,  under  circumstances  which  cannot  be  fore 
seen,  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  Ferdinand  Maximilian, 
should  not  take  possession  of  the  throne  which  is  offered 
to  him,  the  Mexican  nation  relies  on  the  good-will  of 
his  majesty  Napoleon  III.,  Emperor  of  the  French,  tc 
indicate  for  it  another  Catholic  prince. 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  57 

"  '  Given  in  the  Hall  of  Sessions  of  the  Assembly,  on 
the  10th  of  July,  18G3. 

"'TEODOSIO  LARES,  President. 
"'ALEJANDRO  ARANGO  Y  ESCANDON,  Secretary. 
" '  JOSE  MARIA  ANDRADE,  Secretary? 

"  Therefore  let  it  be  printed,  published  by  national 
edict,  and  circulated,  and  let  due  fulfilment  be  given 
thereto. 

"  Given  at  the  palace  of  the  supreme  executive  power 
in  Mexico,  on  the  llth  of  July,  18G3. 

"  JUAX  X.  ALMONTE. 
"JOSE  MARIANO  SALAS. 
"JUAX  13.  ORMAECIIEA." 

A  deputation  of  tlio  Assembly  of  Notables  immedi 
ately  proceeded  to  Europe,  sought  the  Archduke 
Maximilian,  and  communicated  to  him  the  wishes  of 
the  Mexican  people.  In  September,  1863,  they  thus 
addressed  him : 

THE  OFFER  OF  THE  MEXICAN  CROWN. 
Senor  Estrada's  Address  to  Maximilian. 

"  PRINCE  : — The  powerful  hand  of  a  generous  monarch 
had* hardly  restored  liberty  to  the  Mexican  nation,  when 
he  dispatched  us  to  your  imperial  highness,  cherishing 
the  sincerest  wishes  and  warmest  hopes  for  our  mission. 
We  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  visitations  which  Mexico 
has  had  to  undergo,  and  which,  as  trrey  are  notorious, 
have  reduced  our  country  to  the  verge  of  despair  and 


58  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

ruin.  There  are  no  means  we  have  not  emplo3red,  no  way 
we  have  not  tried,  to  escape  a  situation  full  of  misery 
for  the  present,  and  foreboding  catastrophes  for  the 
future.  We  have  long  endeavored  to  extricate  ourselves 
from  the  fatal  and  ruinous  position  into  which  the 
country  had  fallen,  on  adopting,  with  credulous  inexpe 
rience,  republican  institutions,  at  variance  with  its 
natural  arrangements,  its  customs,  and  traditions ;  in 
stitutions  which,  though  they  resulted  in  the  greatness 
and  prosperity  of  a  neighboring  nation,  have  only  be 
come  a  source  of  trials  and  desperate  disappointments 
in  our  case. 

"  Nearly  half  a  century,  Prince,  has  elapsed,  carrying 
with  it  for  Mexico  barren  tortures  and  intolerable 
humiliation,  but  without  deadening  the  spark  of  hope 
and  indomitable  vitality  in  our  breasts.  Full  of  un 
shaken  confidence  in  the  Ruler  of  human  destinies,  we 
never  ceased  to  look  out  for  a  cure  of  our  ever-growing 
national  malady.  We  may  say  we  awaited  its  advent 
true  to  ourselves.  Our  faith  was  not  in  vain.  The 
ways  of  Providence  have  become  manifest,  opening  up  a 
new  era,  and  exciting  the  admiration  of  the  greatest 
minds  by  an  unexpected  turn  of  fortune. 

"  Once  again  master  of  her  destinies,  Mexico,  taught 
by  experience,  is  at  this  moment  making  a  last  effort  to 
correct  her  faults.  She  is  changing  her  institutions, 
being  firmly  persuaded  that  those  now  selected  will  be 
even  more  salutary  than  the  analogous  arrangements 
which  existed  jre  the  time  she  was  the  colony  of  a 
European  state.  This  will  be  all  the  more  certain  if  we 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  59 

should  be  destined  to  see  at  our  head  a  Catholic  Prince, 
who,  with  the  high  and  recognized  worth  of  his  charac 
ter,  with  the  nobility  of  his  feelings,  knows  how  to  couple 
that  firmness  of  will  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  which 
are  the  inheritance  of  those  only  who  have  been  selected 
by  God  Almighty,  in  decisive  moments  of  public  danger 
and  social  ruin,  to  save  sinking  peoples  and  restore 
them  to  a  new  life.  Mexico  expects  much  from  the 
spirit  of  those  institutions  which  have  governed  it  for 
three  centuries,  and  which,  when  they  fell,  left  us  a 
brilliant,  but,  alas !  now  spoiled  inheritance.  The  demo 
cratic  republic  endeavored  to  do  away  with  the  traces 
of  former  grandeur.  But  whatever  may  be  our  confi 
dence  in  such  institutions,  their  efficiency  will  be  only 
perfect  when  crowned  in  the  person  of  your  imperial 
highness.  A  king,  the  heir  of  an  old  monarch}',  and 
representing  solid  institutions,  may  render  his  people 
happ}',  even  in  the  absence  of  distinguished  qualities  of 
mind  and  character  ;  but  very  different  and  exceptional 
qualities  arc  required  in  a  prince  who  intends  to  become 
the  founder  of  a  new  dynasty  and  the  heir  of  a  republic. 
"Without  you,  Prince  —  believe  it  from  these  lips 
which  have  never  served  the  purposes  of  flatten* — with 
out  you,  all  our  efforts  to  save  the  country  will  be  in 
vain.  Without  you  will  not  be  realized  the  generous 
intentions  of  a  great  sovereign,  whose  sword  restored  us 
to  liberty  and  whose  powerful  arm  now  supports  us  in 
this  decisive  hour.  With  you,  however,  experienced  in 
the  difficult  art  of  government,  our  institutions  would 
become  what  they  ought  to  be,  if  the  happiness  and 


60  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

prosperity  of  our  country  are  to  be  guaranteed.  With 
you  they  would  have  for  their  foundation  that  genuine 
liberty  which  is  coupled  with  justice  and  moderation — 
not  the  spurious  counterfeit  we  have  become  conversant 
with  during  half  a  century's  ruinous  wars  and  quarrels. 
Such  institutions,  equally  as  they  are  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  will  also  become  the  unshakable 
corner-stone  of  our  national  independence.  These  senti 
ments,  these  hopes,  which  have  been  long  entertained  by 
all  true  friends  of  Mexico,  are  now  in  the  hearts  of  all 
in  our  country.  In  Europe,  too,  whatever  sympathies 
or  antipathies  may  have  been  roused  on  the  occasion  of 
our  present  step,  there  is  only  one  voice  in  regard  to 
your  imperial  highness  and  your  noble  consort,  who, 
shining  by  personal  worth  and  high  virtues,  will  share 
your  throne  and  rule  over  our  hearts.  The  Mexicans 
require  only  to  see  you  in  order  to  love  you. 

"  Faithful  interpreters  of  the  longing  desire  and  the 
wishes  of  our  country,  in  its  name  we  offer  to  your 
imperial  highness  the  crown  of  Mexico — that  crown 
which  a  solemn  resolution  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables 
has  of  its  free  will  and  accord  handed  over  to  your 
imperial  highness.  Even  now  that  resolution  has  been 
confirmed  by  the  assent  of  many  provinces,  and  will 
soon  be  sanctioned  by  the  entire  nation.  Nor  can  we 
forget,  Prince,  that  by  a  fortunate  coincidence  of  cir 
cumstances  this^  great  national  act  is  taking  place  on  the 
day  on  which  Mexico  celebrates  the  anniversary  of  the 
victorious  appearance  of  the  national  army,  carrying 
high  the  banner  of  independence  and  monarchy.  May 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  61 

it  please  your  imperial  highness  to  fulfil  our  prayers 
and  accept  our  choice.  May  we  be  enabled  to  carry  the 
joyous  tidings  to  a  country  awaiting  them  in  longing 
anxiety  ;  joyous  tidings  not  only  for  us  Mexicans,  but 
also  for  France,  whose  name  is  now  indissolubly  bound 
up  with  our  history ;  and  gratitude  for  England  and 
Spain,  who  began  the  work  of  revival ;  and  for  the  illus 
trious  house  of  Austria,  connected  by  time-honored  and 
glorious  memories  with  a  new  continent. 

"  We  do  not  undervalue  the  sacrifice  to  be  made  by 
3rour  imperial  highness  in  entering  upon  so  great  a  task 
with  all  its  consequences,  and  in  severing  yourself  from 
your  friends  in  Europe — that  quarter  of  the  globe  which, 
from  its  centre,  diffuses  civilization  over  the  world. 
\es,  Prince,  this  crown  which  our  love  oilers  you  is  but 
a  heavy  burden  to-day,  but  it  will  soon  be  made  enviable 
by  your  virtues,  our  zealous  co-operation,  our  loyal  de 
votion,  and  inextinguishable  gratitude.  Whatever  may 
be  our  faults,  however  deep  our  fall,  we  are  still  the 
sons  of  those  who,  inspired  by  the  sacred  names  of  reli 
gion,  king,  and  country,  hesitated  not  to  run  the  great 
est  risks,  engage  in  the  grandest  enterprises,  combat 
and  suffer  in  their  course.  These  are  the  sentiments 
which,  in  the  name  of  pur  grateful  country,  we  lay  at 
the  feet  of  your  imperial  highness.  We  offer  them  to 
the  worthy  scion  of  that  powerful  dynasty  which  planted 
Christianity  on  our  native  soil.  On  that  soil,  Prince, 
we  hope  to  see  you  fulfil  a  high  task,  to  mature  the 
choicest  fruits  of  culture,  which  are  order  and  true 


62  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

liberty.     The  task  is  great,  but  greater  is  our  confidence 
in  Providence,  which  has  led  us  thus  far." 

Who  can  read  this  eloquent  address  without 
emotion  ?  It  is  full  of  the  noblest  sentiments  of 
Christian  patriotism.  The  heart  of  Prince  Maxi 
milian  was  deeply  touched  by  this  mark  of  the 
attachment  of  the  Mexican  people,  and  he  made  the 
following  reply : — 

PtEPLY  OF  THE  ARCHDUKE  MAXIMILIAN  TO  THE 
MEXICAN  DEPUTATION. 

"October  3,  1863. 

"  GENTLEMEN  : — I  am  profoundly  grateful  for  the 
wishes  expressed  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables.  It 
cannot  be  other  than  flattering  to  our  house,  that  the 
thoughts  of  your  countrymen  turn  to  the  descendant 
of  Charles  Y.  It  is  a  proud  task  to  assure  the  inde 
pendence  and  the  prosperity  of  Mexico  under  the  pro 
tection  of  free  and  lasting  institutions.  I  must, 
however,  recognize  the  fact — and  in  this  I  entirely 
agree  with  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  whose  glorious 
undertaking  makes  the  regeneration  of  Mexico  possible 
. — that  the  monarchy  cannot  be  re-established  in  your 
country  on  a  firm  and  legitimate  basis,  unless  the  whole 
nation  shall  confirm  by  a  free  manifestation  of  its  will, 
the  wishes  of  the  capital. 

"  My  acceptance  of  the  offered  throne  must,  therefore, 
depend  upon  the  result  of  the  vote  of  the  whole 
country.  Furthermore,  a  sentiment  of  the  most  sacred 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN".  63 

of  the  duties  of  the  sovereign  requires,  that  he  should 
demand  for  the  proposed  empire  every  necessary 
guarantee  to  secure  it  against  the  dangers  which 
threaten  its  integrity  and  its  independence.  If  sub 
stantial  guarantees  for  the  future  can  be  obtained,  and 
if  the  universal  suffrage  of  the  Mexican  people  select 
me  as  its  choice,  I  shall  be  ready,  with  the  consent  of 
the  illustrious  chief  of  my  family,  and  trusting  to  the 
protection  of  the  Almighty,  to  accept  the  throne.  It  is 
my  duty  to  announce  to  you  now,  gentlemen,  that  in 
case  Providence  shall  call  me  to  the  high  mission  of 
civilization  which  is  attached  to  this  crown,  it  is  my 
fixed  intention  to  open  to  your  country,  by  means  of  a, 
constitutional  government,  a  path  to  a  progress  based 
on  order  and  civilization ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  empire 
shall  be  completely  pacified,  to  seal  with  my  oath  the 
fundamental  agreement  concluded  with  the  nation. 

"It  is  only  in  this  manner  that  a  truly  national 
policy  can  be  established,  in  which  all  parties,  for 
getting  their  ancient  quarrels,  will  unite  to  raise 
Mexico  to  the  high  rank  which  she  should  attain  under 
a  government  whose  first  principle  will  be  law,  based 
on  equity.  I  beg  you  to  communicate  these  my  inten^ 
tions,  which  I  have  frankly  expressed,  to  your  country 
men,  and  to  take  measures  to  obtain  from  the  nation 
an  expression  of  its  will  as  to  the  form  of  government 
it  intends  to  adopt." 

The  admirable  sentiments  of  this  reply  will  at 
once  strike  the  mind  of  every  intelligent  person. 


64  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

Maximilian  is  not  eager  to  accept  the  brilliant  destiny 
that  is  offered  to  him.  He  did  not  seek  the  Mexican 
crown,  nor  does  he  covet  it.  He  feels  the  momentous 
importance  of  the  step  which  he  is  invited  to  take., 
He  does  not  shrink  from  the  mighty  task  of  creating 
an  empire  out  of  such  unpromising  materials.  He 
accepts,  on  two  weighty  conditions : — 1st,  on  ccm- 
dition  that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables 
shall  be  ratified  by  the  whole  Mexican  people,  and 
2nd,  on  condition  that  the  great  powers  of  Europe 
shall  guarantee  the  stability  of  the  throne  that  is 
offered  to  him. 

The  reasonableness  and  justice  of  these  conditions 
were  admitted  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  In  his 
dispatch  to  General  Bazaine,  August,  14,  1863,  M. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  the  French  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  says : — "According  to  the  Emperor's 
ideas,  no  pressure  should  be  exercised  upon  the 
Mexican  nation :  it  alone  should  have  the  right  of 
deciding  on  the  form  of  its  institutions,  and  in  case 
It  should  adopt  a  monarchical  constitution,  on  the 
choice  of  the  prince  who  should  be  called  to  reign 
over  it.  We  already  see,  in  the  vote  of  the  Assembly 
of  Notables,  a  spontaneous  manifestation,  and  a  most 
imposing  one,  of  its  dispositions ;  but  it  is  important 
that  this  vote  should  be  confirmed  and  ratified  as  soon 
as  possible  by  the  assent  of  the  people.  We  likewise 
applaud  the  choice  of  the  eminent  prince  whom  the 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  65 

assembly  has  called  to  the  throne  by  an  acclamation 
which  must,  in  like  manner,  receive  its  definitive 
approval  from  the  suffrages  of  the  country." 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that,  before  the  crown  was 
offered  to  Maximilian,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  had 
declared  that  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables 
must  Ibe  confirmed  and  ratified  by  the  Mexican 
people :  and  that  the  choice  of  the  person  also  whom 
they  had  called  to  the  throne  "  must  receive  the  ap 
proval  of  the  suffrages  of  the  country."  The  same 
principles  are  enunciated  in  still  more  forcible  lan 
guage,  in  Napoleon's  instructions  to  General  Bazaine, 
August  17,  1863.  He  says:— "As  I  have  intimated 
to  you  in  a  previous  dispatch,  we  can  consider  the 
action  of  the  Mexican  Assembly  of  Notables,  only  as 
the  first  indication  of  the  disposition  of  the  country. 
With  all  the  authority  which  attaches  to  the  eminent 
men  who  compose  it,  the  Assembly  recommends  to 
its  fellow  countrymen  the  adoption  of  monarchical 
institutions,  and  it  designates  a  prince  for  their  suf 
frages.  It  belongs  to  the  provisional  government 
to  collect  those  suffrages  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
banish  all  doubt  in  regard  to  the  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  country.  The  best  method  to  be  adopted 
will  be  that  which  shall  insure  the  largest  manifesta 
tion  of  the  popular  will  in  all  its  independence  and 
sincerity."  See  Napoleon's  instructions  to  General 

Bazaine,  ante,  p.  49. 
5 


66  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

The  Mexican  People  Vote  upon  a  Change  in  the  Government — Popular 
Ratification  of  the  Action  of  the  Notables— The  Mexican  People  Pro^ 
nounce  in  Favor  of  Maximilian  for  Emperor — Manner  in  which  this 
Election  was  Conducted — Its  Perfect  Freedom — Every  Mexican  Voted— 
His  Election  in  Mexico  Compared  with  the  Elections  in  Maryland  for 
Three  Years  past — Two-thirds  of  the  Voters  of  Maryland  Disfranchised 
— Superior  Freedom  of  the  Mexican  Election. 

THE  question   was    accordingly  presented   to   the 

Mexican  people,  and  the  election  took  place.      The 

utmost    freedom    was    allowed.     Bodies    of    French 

troops  were  present   in   every   Mexican   State,   but 

M    .  ^lely  in  order  to  keep  open  the  way  to  the  polls. 

•jj*  *'.£$"(>  vote  was  challenged ;  no  vote  was  refused.     The 

Q^     elections  were  held  at  the  usual  polling  places,  and 

the  usual  local  magistrates   and  judges   of  election 

presided.     The  votes  were  openly  counted,  and  it  was 

found   that   the  Mexican  people  had  sanctioned  the 

action  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  and  had,  by  an 

almost  unanimous  vote,  pronounced   in   favor   of  a 

monarchy,  with  Maximilian  for  Emperor. 

Mr.  Seward,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Dayton,  our  minister 
to  France,  October  23,  1863,  thus  speaks  of  this 
election : — 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  67 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  now  speaks  of  an  election  to 
be  held  in  Mexico,  to  result  in  the  choice  of  Prince 
Maximilian  of  Austria  to  be  Emperor  of  Mexico.  We 
learn  from  other  sources  that  the  prince  has  declared 
his  willingness  to  accept  an  imperial  throne  in  Mexico 
on  three  conditions,  namely,  that  he  shall  be  called  to 
it  by  the  universal  suffrage  of  the  Mexican  nation  ;  that 
he  shall  receive  indispensable  guarantees  for  the 
integrity  and  independence  of  the  proposed  empire : 
and  that  the  Emperor  of  Austria  shall  acquiesce." 
And  Mr.  Sewarcl  concludes  this  dispatch  with  the 
following  significant  language,  referring  to  the  supposed 
result  of  the  Mexican  election: — ''The  United  States 
can  do  no  otherwise  than  leave  the  destinies  of  Mexico 
in  the  keeping  of  her  own  people,  and  recognize  their 
sovereignty  and  independence  in  whatever  form  they 
themselves  shall  choose  that  this  sovereignty  and  inde 
pendence  shall  be  manifested." 

If  this  does  not  mean  that  the  United  States  will 
recognize  the  empire  of  Mexico  if  the  people  choose 
to  have  an  empire,  what  does  it  mean  ? 

I  know  it  has  been  said  that  this  Mexican  election 
was  held  under  the  glitter  of  French  bayonets.  That 
is  true :  but,  as  1  have  stated,  the  French  bayonets 
only  kept  open  the  wray  to  the.  polls.  The  French 
bayonets  did  not  keep  a  single  Mexican  away  from 
the  polls.  No  Mexican  was  challenged.  The  vote 
of  no  Mexican  was  refused.  It  was  by  far  the  freest 
election  that  had  ever  taken  place  in  Mexico.  Com- 


68  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

pare  it  with  the  elections  in  Maryland  and  Missouri 
from  1863  to  1866. 

In  Maryland  two  thirds  of  the  citizens  of  the  State 
are  disfranchised  and  cannot  vote  at  all.*  This  is 
effected  by  means  of  a  registry  law,  now  in  force  in 
that  State.  This  act  was  passed  by  the  legislature 
of  that  State  in  1863.  The  legislature  by  which  it 
was  passed,  was  elected  for  the  express  purpose  of 
passing  this  registry  law.  Maryland  was  not  one  of 
the  States  which  seceded.  Maryland  was  not  one  of 
the  rebel  States.  Maryland  furnished  and  kept  on 
foot  a  body  of  twenty-five  thousand  troops  in  the 
northern  army  during  the  whole  war.  Maryland  was 
represented  in  Congress  during  the  whole  war,  by 
her  senators  and  representatives.  Yet  from  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1863  to  the  end  of  the  year 
1865,  all  the  elections  in  Maryland  have  been  con 
trolled  by  the  presence  of  soldiers,  and  by  military 
usurpation.  During  all  this  time  the  civil  authorities 
in  Maryland  exercised  no  powers  except  such  as  it 
pleased  the  military  authorities  to  permit  them  to 
exercise.  The\  rights  of  Maryland  as  a  State,  were 
entirely  taken  away.  Maryland  was  changed  into  a 
Military  Department,  and  was  ruled  by  a  military 
governor.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  period 
above-named,  Maryland  was  governed  by  a  Mr. 

*  This  was  written  in  1866. 


MEXICO    UXDER    MAXIMILIAN.  69 

Schenck,  "the  hero  of  Vienna,"  who,  although  with 
out  military  education,  military  talents,  or  military 
experience,  had  been  made  a  major-general  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  was  placed  in  command  at  Baltimore, 
with  a  large  body  of  troops  under  his  orders.  A 
bitter  radical  himself,  in  him  the  leaders  of  the 
radical  republican  party  in  Maryland  found  a  ready 
and  willing  ally. 

There  were  two  parties  in  Maryland,  as  there  had 
always  been  two  parties  in  all  the  States :  the  Demo 
cratic,  or  rather  the  Conservative  party,  embracing  all 
the  old  Clay  and  Webster  Whigs;  and  the  Republican, 
or  rather  the  Eadical  party,  embracing  the  abolition 
ists.  The  latter  were  in  a  very  small  minority.  The 
Conservative,  or  Democratic  party,  embraced  fully 
four-fifths  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State,  and  all  the 
old  residents  and  persons  of  property.  The  Republi 
cans  were  new  settlers,  people  from  the  New  England 
States,  persons  of  no  property,  and  comprised,  indeed, 
a  class  who  would  have  remained  forever  without  in 
fluence  in  the  government  of  the  State.  Their  total 
strength  in  1860  was  only  two  thousand  two  hundred 
and  ninety-nine  votes.  In  the  election  for  President 
held  in  that  year,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Presi 
dent  received  ninety  thousand  two  hundred  and  eight 
votes,  and  Lincoln,  the  Radical  candidate,  only  two 
thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety -nine.  That  was 


70  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

the  last  free  election  that  ever  took  place  in  Maryland 
until  the  election  for  members  of  Congress  and  mem 
bers  of  the  State  Legislature  in  November,  1866.  In 
1863,  1864,  and  1865,  the  whole  State  was  overrun 
by  hordes  of  soldiery  from  other  States,  and  all  the 
elections  were  controlled  by  bayonets. 

In  1863,  a  State  constitution  was  framed  by  a  radi 
cal  Republican  convention,  which  was  utterly  repug 
nant,  in  its  character,  to  the  Democratic  citizens  of  the 
State.  When  this  constitution  was  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  people,  it  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  one 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  forty-three  votes.  But 
there  was  a  body  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  sol 
diers  stationed  at  and  near  Baltimore.  The  military 
authorities  ordered  these  soldiers  to  vote,  and  by  their 
votes  a  majority  of  seven  hundred  and  ninety-eight 
votes  was  secured  for  the  constitution.  All  of  these 
facts  will  be  found  recorded  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
day,  particularly  the  New  York  World,  and  the  Balti 
more  American,  from  Oct.  18  to  25,  1863.  Thus  was 
a  constitution,  repugnant  to  their  wishes,  and  which 
had  actually  been  rejected  by  a  majority  of  one  thou 
sand  nine  hundred  and  forty-three  of  her  own  citizens, 
fastened  upon  the  State  of  Maryland.  The  Governor 
of  the  State  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Pres 
ident,  on  the  subject  of  this  military  interference  with 
elections  in  Maryland : — 


MEXICO    UXDER    MAXIMILIAN.  71 

GOVERNOR  BRADFORD  TO  THE  PRESIDENT. 

"EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  ANNAPOLIS,  Oct.  31,  1863. 
"  To  HIS  EXCELLENCY,  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  : — 

SIR  : — Rumors  are  to-day  current,  and  they  reach  me 
in  such  a  shape  that  I  am  bound  to  believe  them,  that 
detachments  of  soldiers  are  to  be  dispatched  on  Monday 
next  to  several  of  the  counties  of  the  State,  with  a  view 
of  being  present  at  their  polls  on  Wednesday  next,  the 
day  of  our  State  election.  These  troops  are  not  resi 
dents  of  the  State,  and  consequently  are  not  sent  for 
the  purpose  of  voting ;  and  there  is  no  reason,  in  my 
opinion,  to  apprehend  any  riotous  or  violent  proceed 
ings  at  this  election ;  the  inference  is  unavoidable  that 
these  military  detachments,  if  sent,  are  expected  to 
exert  some  control  or  influence  in  that  election.  I  am 
also  informed  that  orders  are  to  be  issued  from  the 
Military  Department  on  Monday,  presenting  certain 
restrictions  or  qualifications  on  the  right  of  suffrage — 
of  what  precise  character  I  am  not  apprised — which  the 
judges  of  election  will  be  expected  to  observe.  From 
my  knowledge  of  your  sentiments  on  these  subjects,  as 
expressed  to  Hon.  R.  Johnson,  in  my  presence,  on  the 
22d  instant,  as  also  disclosed  in  your  letter  of  instruc 
tions  to  General  Schofield,  since  published,  in  reference 
to  the  Missouri  election,  I  cannot  but  think  that  the 
orders  above  referred  to  are  without  your  personal 
knowledge  ;  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  calling  the  subject 
to  your  attention,  and  invoke  your  interposition  to 
countermand  them.  I  cannot  but  feel  that  to  suffer  any 


72  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

military  interference  in  the  matter  of  our  election,  or 
to  prescribe  any  test  of  oath  to  voters,  when  all  the 
candidates  in  the  State — with  the  exception,  perhaps, 
of  two  or  three  in  one  Congressional  district,  are  all 
lo}'al  men — would  be  justly  obnoxious  to  the  public 
sentiment  of  the  State.  There  are  other  reasons  why 
such  proceedings  would  appear  as  an  offensive  discrimi 
nation  against  our  State.  Our  citizens  are  aware  that 
highly  important  elections  have  recently  taken  place  in 
other  States,  without,  it  is  believed,  any  such  interfer 
ence  by  the  government  authorities,  and,  if  votes  by 
hundreds  of  thousands  have  been  allowed  to  be  cast 
there  without  objection,  and  with  no  limit  upon  the 
elective  franchise,  other  than  the  State  laws  prescribe, 
and  where  one,  at  least,  of  the  candidates  so  supported 
was  considered  so  hostile  to  the  government,  that  for 
months  past  he  has  been  banished  from  the  country, 
certainly  any  such  interference  as  between  the  loyal 
men  now  candidates  in  this  State,  would,  under  such 
comparisons,  be  more  justly  objectionable,  and  finds 
nothing  in  the  present  condition  of  things  here  to  jus 
tify  it.  I  rely,  therefore,  upon  your  Excellency  for 
such  an  order  as  will  prevent  it.  I  have  the  honor  to 
be,  with  great  respect,  your  Excellency's  obedient  ser 
vant,  A.  W.  BRADFORD. 

Governor  Bradford  also  issued  the  following  pro 
clamation  : 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  73 

PROCLAMATION  BY  GOVERNOR  BRADFORD. 
>,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTME? 
ANNAPOLIS,  Nov.  2,  1863. 


STATE  OF  MARYLAND,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,") 

'•  > 


"  To  THE  CITIZENS  OF  THE  STATE  AND  MORE  ESPECIALLY 
THE  JUDGES  OF  ELECTION  : — 

"A  military  order,  issued  from  the  headquarters  of 
the  "Middle  Department,"  bearing  date  the  27th  ult., 
printed  and  circulated,  as  it  is  said,  through  the  State, 
though  never  yet  published  here,  and  designed  to  operate 
on  the  approaching  election,  has  just  been  brought  to,  my 
attention,  and  is  of  such  a  character,  and  issued  under 
such  circumstances  as  to  demand  notice  at  my  hands. 

"  This  order,  reciting  '  that  there  are  many  evil  dis 
posed  persons  now  at  large  in  the  State  of  Maryland, 
who  have  been  engaged  in  rebellion  against  the  lawful 
government,  or  have  given  aid  and  comfort,  or  en 
couragement  to  others  so  engaged,  or  who  do  not  recog 
nize  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  who  may 
avail  themselves  of  the  indulgence  of  the  authority 
which  tolerates  their  presence,  to  embarrass  the  ap 
proaching  election,  or  through  it  to  foist  enemies  of  the 
United  States  into  power,'  proceeds,  among  other 
things,  to  direct  '  all  provost  marshals  and  other  mili 
tary  officers  to  arrest  all  such  persons  found  at  or  hang 
ing  about  or  approaching  an 3'  poll  or  place  of  election 
on  the  4th  of  November,  18C3,  and  report  such  arrest 
to  these  headquarters.' 

"  This  extraordinary  order  has  not  only  been  issued 
without  any  notice  to,  or  consultation  with  the  consti 
tuted  authorities  of  the  State,  but  at  a  time  and  unclec 


74  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

circumstances  when  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  the 
character  of  the  candidates,  are  such  as  to  preclude  the 
idea  that  the  result  of  that  election  can  in  any  way  en 
danger  either  the  safety  of  the  government  or  the  peace 
of  the  community. 

"  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that,  with  perhaps  one  sin 
gle  exception,  there  is  not  a  Congressional  candidate 
in  the  State  whose  loyalty  is  even  of  a  questionable 
character,  and  in  not  a  county  of  the  State  outside  of 
the  same  Congressional  district  is  there,  I  believe,  a 
candidate  for  the  legislature  or  any  State  office  whose 
loyalty  is  not  equally  undoubted.  In  the  face  of  this 
well  known  condition  of  things,  the  several  classes  of 
persons  above  enumerated  are  not  only  to  be  arrested 
at,  but  'approaching  any  poll  or  place  of  election.'  And 
who  is  to  judge  whether  voters  thus  on  their  way  to  the 
place  of  voting  have  given  '  aid,  comfort,  or  encourage 
ment'  to  persons  engaged  in  the  rebellion,  or  that  they 
'  do  not  recognize  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States,' 
and  may  avail  themselves  of  their  presence  at  the  polls 
'  to  foist  enemies  of  the  United  States  into  power  ?'  As 
I  have  already  said,  in  a  very  large  majority  of  the 
counties  of  the  State  there  are  not  to  be  found  among 
the  candidates  any  such  '  enemies  of  the  United  States ;' 
but  the  provost  marshals — created  for  a  very  different 
purpose — and  the  other  military  officials  who  are  thus 
ordered  to  arrest  approaching  voters,  are  necessarily 
made  by  the  order  the  sole  and  exclusive  judges  of  those 
who  fall  within  the  prescribed  category ;  an  extent  of 
arbitrary  discretion,  under  any  circumstance  the  most 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  75 

odious,  and  more  especially  offensive  and  dangerous  in 
view  of  the  known  fact  that  two,  at  least,  of  the  five 
provost  marshals  of  the  State  are  themselves  candi 
dates  for  important  offices,  and  sundry  of  their  deputies 
for  others. 

"  This  military  order,  therefore,  is  not  only  without 
justification,  when  looking  to  the  character  of  the  can 
didates  before  the  people,  and  rendered  still  more  ob 
noxious  by  the  means  appointed  for  its  execution,  but 
is  equally  offensive  to  the  sensibilities  of  the  people 
themselves,  and  the  authorities  of  the  State,  looking  to 
the  repeated  proofs  they  have  furnished  of  an  unalter 
able  devotion  to  the  government.  For  more  than  two 
years  past  there  has  never  been  a  time  when,  if  every 
traitor  and  every  treasonable  sympathizer  in  the  State 
had  voted,  they  could  have  controlled,  whoever  might 
have  been  their  candidates,  a  single  department  of  the 
State,  or  jeopardized  the  success  of  the  general  govern 
ment.  No  State  in  the  Union  has  been  or  is  now  actu 
ated  by  more  heartfelt  or  unwavering  loyalty  than 
Maryland — a  loyalty  intensified  and  purified  by  the 
ordeal  through  which  it  has  passed ;  and  yet,  looking 
to  what  has  lately  transpired  elsewhere,  and  to  the 
terms  and  character  of  this  militaiy  order,  one  would 
think  that  in  Maryland,  and  nowhere  else,  is  the  gov 
ernment  endangered  by  the  '  many  evil  disposed  per 
sons  that  are  now  at  large.' 

"  Within  less  than  a  month  the  most  important  elec 
tions  have  taken  place  in  two  of  the  largest  States  of 
the  Union.  In  each  of  them  candidates  were  before  the 


76  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

people,  charged  by  the  particular  friends  of  the  govern 
ment  "with  being  hostile  to  its  interests,  and  whose  elec 
tion  was  deprecated  as  fraught  with  the  most  dangerous 
consequences  to  its  success.  One  of  the  most  prominent 
of  these  candidates  was  considered  so  dangerously 
inimical  to  the  triumph  of  the  national  cause,  that 
he  has  been  for  months  past  banished  from  the  coun 
try,  and  yet  hundreds  of  thousands  of  voters  were  al 
lowed  to  approach  the  polls,  and  to  attempt  '  to  foist 
such  men  into  power,'  and  no  provost  marshals  or  other 
military  officers  were  ordered  to  arrest  them  on  the 
way,  or  so  far  as  we  have  ever  heard,  even  test  their 
allegiance  by  any  oath. 

"  With  these  facts  before  us,  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  suggestion  that  the  enemies  of  the  United 
States  maybe  foisted  into  power  at  our  coming  election, 
was  the  consideration  that  prompted  this  order;  but 
whatever  may  have  been  that  motive,  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  solemnly  protest  against  such  an  intervention 
with  the  privileges  of  the  ballot  box,  and  so  offensive  a 
discrimination  against  the  rights  of  a  loyal  State." 

In  Governor  Bradford's  next  message  to  the  legis 
lature  of  Maryland,  he  thus  spoke  of  these  unparal 
leled  outrages : — 

"  A  few  days  before  that  election  a  military  order  was 
issued  from  the  army  headquarters  at  Baltimore,  which 
in  effect  placed  the  polls  under  the  surveillance  and  at 
the  command  of  the  military  authority. 

You  will  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of  this  order,  and 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  77 

it  is  not  necessary  further  to  recite  it  than  to  state  in 
general  terms  that  it  was  to  be  executed  by  the  milita 
ry,  aided  Ir^the  provost  marshals.  They  were  to  arrest 
voters  whom  they  might  consider  disloyal  in  approach 
ing  or  hanging  about  the  polls ;  a  prescribed  form  of 
oath  was  furnished,  without  taking  which  no  one,  if 
challenged,  could  vote ;  and  the  several  commanding 
officers  were  charged  to  report  to  headquarters  any 
judge  of  election  who  should  refuse  to  administer  that 
oath,  or  to  aid  in  cariying  out  that  order.  The  Presi 
dent  modified  the  first  part  of  the  order  on  the  Monday 
preceding  the  election,  but  even  that  modification 
seemed  to  receive  no  attention  from  those  entrusted 
with  its  execution,  and  was  in  some  instances  openly 
disregarded. 

"Prominent  among  the  provost  marshals  to  whom  the 
execution  of  this  order  was  in  part  committed  were 
several  who  were  themselves  candidates  for  important 
offices. 

"These  marshals,  appointed  for  the  pupose  of  the  mil 
itia  enrollment  and  draft,  were  placed  by  the  law  creat 
ing  them  under  the  control  of  the  provost  marshal 
general,  but  to  insure  the  right  to  employ  them  about 
this  election  order,  special  authority  was  obtained  from 
Washington  to  place  them  for  the  time  being  under  the 
orders  of  the  military  authorities. 

"  I,  therefore,  on  the  Monday  evening  preceding  the 
election,  issued  a  proclamation  giving  them  this  assur 
ance,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  submitted. 

"  Before  the  following  morning  militpw  orders  were 


78  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

sent  to  the  Eastern  Shore,  directing  its  circulation  to 
be  suppressed,  the  public  papers  were  forbidden  to  pub 
lish  it,  and  an  embargo  laid  on  all  the  steamers  in  port 
trading  with  that  part  of  the  State,  lest  they  might 
carry  it. 

"  Abuses  commenced  even  before  the  opening  of  the 
polls.  On  the  day  preceding  the  election,  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  regiment  which  had  been  distributed 
among  the  counties  of  the  Eastern  Shore,  and  who  had 
himself  landed  in  Kent  county,  commenced  his  opera 
tions  by  arresting  and  sending  across  the  bay  some  ten 
or  more  of  the  most  estimable  and  distinguished  of  its 
citizens,  including  several  of  the  most  steadfast  and  un 
compromising  loyalists  of  the  Shore.  The  jail  of  the 
county  was  entered,  the  jailer  seized,  imprisoned,  and 
afterwards  sent  to  Baltimore,  and  prisoners  confined 
therein  under  indictment,  set  at  liberty.  The  com 
manding  officer  referred  to  gave  the  first  clue  to  the 
character  of  disloyalty  against  which  he  considered 
himself  as  particularly  commissioned  by  printing  and 
publishing  a  proclamation  in  which,  referring  to  the 
election  to  take  place  next  day,  he  invited  all  the  truly 
loyal  to  avail  themselves  of  that  opportunit}^  and  estab 
lish  their  loyalty  '  by  giving  a  full  and  ardent  support 
to  the  whole  government  ticket  upon  the  platform 
adopted  by  the  Union  League  Convention,'  declaring 
that  '  none  other  is  recognized  by  the  Federal  authori 
ties  as  loyal  or  worthy  of  support  of  any  one  who 
desires  the  peace  and  restoration  of  the  Union.' 

"  To  secure  the  election  of  that  ticket  seemed  to  be 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  79 

the  business  to  which  he  and  his  officers  especially  de 
voted  themselves  throughout  the  day  of  election.  In 
the  statements  and  certificates  which  have  been  for 
warded  to  me  from  different  counties  in  that  Congres 
sional  district,  I  have  been  furnished,  I  presume,  with 
an  account  of  part  only  of  the  outrages  to  which 
their  citizens  were  subjected.  The  '  government  ticket' 
above  referred  to  was  in  several,  if  not  all  of  these 
counties,  designated  by  its  color;  it  was  a  yellow  ticket, 
and  armed  with  that,  a  voter  could  safely  run  the 
gauntlet  of  the  sabres  and  carbines  that  guarded  the 
entrance  to  the  polls,  and  known  sj'mpathizers  with  the 
rebellion  were,  as  certified  to  me,  allowed  to  vote  un 
questioned,  if  they  would  vote  that  ticket,  whilst  lo}Tal 
and  respected  citizens,  ready  to  take  the  oath,  were 
turned  back  by  the  officers  in  charge  without  even  al 
lowing  them  to  approach  the  polls. 

"  In  one  district,  as  appears  by  certificate  from  the 
judge,  the  military  officer  took  his  stand  at  the  polls 
before  thc}r  were  opened,  declaring  that  none  but  '  the 
}Tellow  ticket '  should  be  voted,  and  excluded  all  others 
throughout  the  day.  In  another  district  a  similar  offi 
cer  caused  every  ballot  offered  to  be  examined,  and 
unless  it  was  the  favored  one,  the  voter  was  required  to 
take  the  oath,  and  not  otherwise ;  and  in  another  again, 
after  one  vote  only  had  been  given,  the  polls  were 
closed,  the  judges  all  arrested  and  sent  out  of  the 
count}-,  and  military  occupation  taken  of  the  town. 

"A  part  of  the  army  which  a  generous  people  had 
supplied  for  a  very  different  purpose  was  on  that  day 


80  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

engaged  in  stifling  the  freedom  of  election  in  a  faithful 
State,  intimidating  its  sworn  officers,  violating  the  con 
stitutional  rights  of  its  loyal  citizens,  and  obstructing 
the  usual  channels  of  communication  between  them  and 
their  Executive." 

But  this  was  not  all.  A  few  months  before  the 
election,  every  Democratic  newspaper  in  the  State  of 
Maryland  was  suppressed  by  military  authority,  in 
contempt  of  the  laws  of  the  State,  and  in  defiance  of 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  One  only  re 
mained,  the  Evening  Post,  of  Baltimore.  This  too 
was  suppressed,  by  the  following  order  : — 

"  EIGHTH  ARMY  CORPS,  MIDDLE  DEPARTMENT. 

"BALTIMORE,  SEPT.  30,  1864. 

"EDITOR  EVENING  POST  : — As  the  surest  means  of  pre 
venting  your  office  being  made  the  subject  of  violence, 
you  will  discontinue  the  publication  of  your  paper  the 
Evening  Post.  By  command  of 

"Major-General  WALLACE." 

Thus  were  the  Democratic  citizens  of  Maryland  de 
prived  of  all  means  of  knowing  by  what  conduct  on 
their  part  the  electoral  vote  of  their  State  might  possi 
bly  be  secured  for  the  Democratic  candidates.  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  a  candidate  for  re-election  himself;  that 
part  of  the  army  which  was  stationed  in  Maryland 
was  under  his  express  orders ;  and  he  thus  used  it,  in 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  81 

order  to  prevent  the  vote  of  Maryland  from  being 
cast  for  the  Democratic  candidates.  The  editors  of 
the  Evening  Post  immediately  came  to  Washington, 
to  beg  the  President  that  he  would  permit  them  to  re- 
same  the  publication  of  the  paper.  But  Mr.  Lincoln 
refused  even  to  see  them.  Whereupon  the  Hon. 
Severely  Johnson  caused  the  following  two  letters  to 
be  published  : — 

"BALTIMORE,  OCT.  6,  18G4. 
"  To  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

"Srn: — The  accompanying  communication  from  the 
editor  and  proprietors  of  the  Evening  Post,  of  this  city, 
has  been  placed  in  my  hands,  with  a  request  to  forward 
it  to  3rou.  The  wrong  it  discloses  seems  to  me  to  be  so 
utterly  without  justification  or  excuse  that  I  should  be 
doing  injustice  to  you  to  suppose  for  a  moment  that 
jou.  will  permit  it  to  be  continued. 

"  You  will  also  receive  with  this  a  copy  of  the  paper 
issued  on  the  last  day  on  which  its  publication  was  per 
mitted,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  agree  with  me  in  the 
opuRon  that  it  contains  nothing  of  a  disloyal  character, 
uflflRg  it  be  that  it  has  at  its  head  the  names  of  Me 
Clellan  anel  Pendleton,  as  its  preferred  candidates  in 
the  present  Presidental  canvass.  It  would  be  my  duty 
to  apologize  in  advance  were  I  even  to  hint  that  you 
would  consider  that  as  any  evidence  of  disloyalty,  or  as 
affording  the  slightest  grounds  for  the  suppression  of 
the  paper. 
6 


82  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

11  The  reason  assigned  for  the  military  order  com 
plained  of  you  cannot  fail  also  to  agree  with  me  in 
thinking  to  be  wholly  insufficient,  since  the  officer  issuing 
it  had  under  his  command  two  or  three  thousand  armed 
soldiers,  a  force  abundantly  adequate  to  protect  the 
office  of  the  newspaper  and  its  editor  from  the  violence 
of  a  mob,  had  there  been  any  indication  at  the  time 
that  such  violence  would  be  used. 

"  I  am  made  the  organ  of  bringing  this  matter  to  your 
attention,  because  of  my  being  one  of  the  Senators  of 
the  State,  and  bound  by  that  relation  to  do  what  I  can 
to  protect  her  citizens  against  outrage. 

"An  early  reply  to  the  request  of  the  editors,  sent 
through  me,  is  respectfully  solicited,  and,  not  doubting 
that  it  will  be  a  favorable  one — I  have  the  honor  to  re 
main  your  obedient  servant. 

"REVERDY  JOHNSON." 

NEWSPAPER  SUPPRESSION  AT  BALTIMORE. 

"  BALTIMORE,  OCT.  10,  1864. 
"  To  the  editors  of  the  National  Intelligencer  i 
11  GENTLEMEN  : — The   papers  you   receive   with  this 
(and  which  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  publish)  jceak 


for  themselves,  telling  a  story  that  no  American 
worthy  of  the  name  will  read  but  with  deep  regret. 

"  Of  the  many  outrages  of  like  character  perpetrated 
I  under  the  authority  of  the  President  or  with  his 
approval,  the  suppression  of  the  Evening  Post  is  the 
most  flagrant.  The  cause  assigned  (if  true)  is  a  sad 
exhibition  of  the  power  of  the  President  to  put  down 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  83 

a  gigantic  rebellion  having  arrayed  in  its  support  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  of  well  disciplined  soldiers,  com 
manded  by  brave  and  skilful  officers.  A  major-general 
of  the  President's  appointment,  having  several  thousand 
soldiers  subject  to  his  orders,  has  not  the  power,  he  tells 
us,  to  prevent  the  suppression  of  a  paper  by  mob 
violence  ;  and  the  President,  with  a  want  of  courtesy  not 
to  have  been  expected,  refuses  to  see  the  gentlemen 
whose  property  and  rights  as  freemen,  he  was  informed, 
had  been  outraged,  or  even  to  answer  respectful  letters 
soliciting  his  interference. 

"  Posterity  will  hardly  believe  that  such  things  should 
have  occurred,  and  the  people  in  this  country,  and 
everywhere  where  liberty  is  valued,  will  regard  it  but 
with  shame  and  indignation.  I  trust  in  God  that  the 
day  is  near  at  hand  when  the  constitution  which  our 
fathers  bequeathed  us,  and  the  freedom  which  they  de 
signed  should  be  perpetual,  will  be  ours  once  more. 
"Yours,  with  regard, 

"REVERDY  JOHNSON." 

When  the  election  for  President  took  place,  the 
rqgiftry  law  had  not  yet  gone  into  operation,  and  the 
Democratic  citizens  made  every  effort  to  vote.  These 
efforts  were  frustrated  in  two  cases  out  of  three,  over 
the  whole  State.  The  leaders  of  the  radical  party  in 
Maryland  had  sought  the  aid  of  the  great  radical 
leaders  in  Congress,  and  the  latter  had  instructed  the 
military  authorities  to  see  to  it  that  no  disloyal  person 


84  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

was  allowed  to  vote  in  Maryland.  Parties  of  soldiers 
were  accordingly  stationed  at  every  voting  place  in  the 
State.  Whenever  a  Democrat  came  up  to  vote,  he  was 
denounced  by  the  radicals  present  as  "disloyal,''  and 
was  usually  hustled  away  from  the  polls.  About  one 
third  of  the  Democratic  voters  in  the  State  succeeded 
in  getting  their  votes  in,  but  fully  two  thirds  were 
prevented.  The  judges  of  the  election  reported 
the  result  of  this  election  as  follows:  For  Lincoln, 
forty  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty-three;  for 
McClellan,  the  Democratic  candidate,  thirty  thou 
sand  seven  hundred  and  thirty-nine.  Now  it  being 
notorious  that  there  are  ninety  thousand  Democratic 
voters  in  the  State,  it  is  evident  that  sixty  thousand 
of  them  were  thus  deprived  of  their  votes  by  the  bay 
onets  of  a  foreign  soldiery. 

The  registry  law  provides  in  substance,  that  no 
person  in  Maryland  shall  be  allowed  to  vote  unless  his 
name  be  registered ;  and  that  no  person's  name  shall 
be  registered  unless  he  can  give  certain  prescribed  an 
swers  to  some  twenty  of  the  most  absurd  and  ridicu 
lous  questions.  These  questions  do  not  relate  fb  his 
right  to  vote  at  all.  They  relate  to  his  private  opin 
ions,  his  feelings,  his  wishes,  his  hopes,  and  other 
nonsense  of  that  kind.  Very  few  Democrats,  of  course, 
can  answer  them  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  political 
opponents.  The  law  was  drawn  up  by  the  radical 
leaders  in  Maryland  for  the  express  purpose  of  dis- 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  85 

franchising  the  Democratic  voters  of  the  State.  A 
State  legislature  was  then  elected  for  the  express 
purpose  of  passing  this  law.  This  election  was  con 
ducted  in  the  same  manner  as  the  one  described  above. 
Very  few  Democrats  were  allowed  to  vote ;  all  the 
radical  candidates  were  elected ;  and  the  radical  legis 
lature,  thus  elected,  passed  the  "registry  law."  While 
this  registry  law  remains  in  force,  two  thirds  of  the 
citizens  of  Maryland  are  thus  deprived  of  their  votes. 
Compare  these  elections  in  Maryland  with  the  election 
in  Mexico,  and  see  which  was  the  freest ;  which  was 
the  most  consistent  with  republican  institutions. 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  Maryland,  even  at  as  late 
a  day  as  the  3d  of  November,  1866,  is  thus  eloquently 
described  by  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson,  in  a  speech  de 
livered  on  that  day: 

"  Before  the  war,  every  citizen  of  Maryland  possessed 
the  franchise.  Now,  it  is  not  so.  Our  people  are  not 
all  on  the  same  footing,  and  our  present  constitution 
excludes  from  the  franchise  a  large  majorit}'  of  our  citi 
zens.  The  provisions  of  the  registry  law  are  so  stringent 
that  they  exclude  many  who  would  not  be  excluded  if 
the  constitutional  provision  on  the  subject  had  been 
fairly  carried  out.  The  citizen  who,  having  had  a  father, 
son,  or  brother  in  the  service  of  the  confederates,  even 
felt,  during  the  war,  sj'inpathy  for  his  fate,  is  excluded. 
He  who  had  entertained  the  opinion  that  a  State  had  a 
right  to  secede  (a  doctrine  taught  by  Jefferson,  and 


86  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

maintained  by  many  of  the  best  men  in  every  State), 
is  excluded.  He  who,  hearing  that  a  father,  son,  or 
brother  was  suffering  from  want  of  food  or  medicine, 
and  sent  him  the  smallest  quantity  of  either,  is  excluded. 
We  all  remember  that  most  of  the  registers,  with  an 
ignorance  or  audacity  never  before  exhibited,  refused 
registration  upon  the  most  ridiculous  pretences.  The 
result  was,  nearly  three  fourths  of  the  voters  were  ex 
cluded.  In  the  city  of  Baltimore,  about  ten  thousand 
were  registered,  when  its  voting  population  was  thirty 
thousand.  And  bad  as  this  was,  many  of  those  who 
were  registered,  at  the  elections  that  have  since  occurred 
have  been  denied  the  right  to  vote  by  partisan  judges. 
At  the  last  municipal  election,  less  than  eight  thousand 
votes  were  polled,  though  the  entire  voting  population 
was  at  least  forty  thousand.  Can  this  condition  of 
things  continue  ?  Ought  freemen  to  permit  it  ?" 

I  am  aware  that  I  have  made,  in  this  chapter,  a 
long  digression.  But  it  is  not  irrelevant  to  the  sub 
ject.  It  shows,  by  comparison  with  the  election  held 
in  Mexico,  in  1863,  that  the  latter  was  a  thousand 
times  more  free,  and  expressed  the  popular  will  in 
finitely  more  correctly,  than  the  elections  held  in 
Maryland  for  some  years  past.' 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  87 


CHAPTER   Y. 

Maximilian's  Second  Condition  also  Complied  with — The  Stability  of  the 
Mexican  Empire  Guaranteed  by  France,  Austria,  and  Belgium — A 
Deputation  of  Mexicans  Arrive  at  Miramar — Maximilian  Accepts  the 
Mexican  Crown — Embarkation  of  Maximilian  for  Mexico — The  Voyage 
across  the  Atlantic — Arrival  at  Vera  Cruz — Reception  there — Proclama 
tion  of  Maximilian  on  Landing — Arrival  at  the  City  of  Mexico — Recep 
tion  there — Rejoicings  of  the  People — Festivities  and  Illuminations — 
Immensity  of  the  Task  which  Maximilian  found  before  him — Measures 
which  he  Adopted  to  Secure  the  Prosperity  and  Happiness  of  the  People 
— Good  Effect  of  these  Measures — Revival  of  Commerce,  and  of  all 
Branches  of  Business — Effect  of  the  Encouragement  of  Industry — 
Gradual  Increase  in  the  Revenues  of  Mexico. 

Ox  the  10th  of  April,  1864,  Prince  Maximilian  re 
ceived  the  Mexican  deputation  at  Miramar,  and  for 
mally  accepted  the  crown  and  throne  of  Mexico.  M. 
Estrada,  president  of  the  deputation,  delivered  an 
address,  in  which  he  dwelt  on  the  importance  of  the 
national  vote  of  Mexico,  which  had  been  taken  at  the 
request  of  Maximilian,  and  which  had  resulted  in  the 
ratification  of  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  Notables. 
Maximilian,  replying,  said  that  he  felt  not  the  slightest 
doubt,  from  the  act  of  adhesion  just  presented  to  him, 
that  the  immense  majority  of  the  country  were  in 
favor  of  the  imperial  form  of  government,  and  of  him 
self  as  the  head  of  the  State.  The  choice  of  the 


88  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

country  had  been  laid  down,  in  his  reply  of  October 
3d,  as  one  condition  of  his  acceptance ;  and  another 
was,  that  full  guarantees  should  be  given  of  his  being 
able  to  devote  himself  peaceably  to  the  task  of  advanc 
ing  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  Those  guarantees 
were  now  fully  assured,  thanks  to  the  magnanimity 
of  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  who,  during  the  whole 
of  the  negotiations,  had  shown  a  straight-forwardness 
and  kindness  which  he  (the  speaker)  could  never 
forget.  "  The  illustrious  head  of  my  family,"  pursued 
the  archduke,  "having  given  his  consent,  I  now  de 
clare  that,  relying  on  the  assistance  of  the  Almighty, 
I  accept  the  crown  offered  me  by  the  Mexican  nation. 
As  I  stated  in  my  address  of  October  3d,  I  shall  en 
deavor  to  place  the  monarchy  under  the  authority  of 
the  constitutional  laws  as  soon  as  the  pacification  of 
the  country  shall  be  complete.  The  force  of  a  gov 
ernment  is,  in  my  opinion,  more  assured  by  sound 
regulations  than  by  the  extent  of  its  limits,  and  I  shall 
be  anxious  for  the  exercise  of  my  government  to  fix 
such  bounds  to  it  as  may  insure  its  duration.  I  shall 
hold  firmly  aloft  the  flag  of  independence,  as  the 
symbol  of  our  future  grandeur.  I  call  for  the  co-opera 
tion  of  all  the  Mexicans  who  love  their  country  to  aid 
me  in  the  accomplishment  of  my  noble  but  most  diffi 
cult  task.  Never  shall  my  government  forget  the 
gratitude  it  owes  to  the  illustrious  sovereign  whose 
friendly  support  has  rendered  the  regeneration  of  our 


MEXICO    UXDKR    MAXIMILIAN.  89 

noble  land  possible.  I  am  now  on  the  point  of 
leaving  for  my  new  country,  paying,  as  I  go,  a  visit 
to  Rome,  where  I  shall  receive  from  the  holy  father 
that  benediction  which  is  so  precious  for  all  sover 
eigns,  but  above  all  to  me,  called,  as  I  am,  to  found  a 
new  empire." 

As  soon  as  the  archduke  had  uttered  the  last  word, 
the  deputation  and  all  the  Mexicans  present  acclaimed 
their  new  sovereign  by  crying  out  three  times  :  "  God 
save  the  Emperor  Maximilian  I."  "God  save  the 
Empress  Carlotta!"  At  the  same  instant,  salutes  of 
artillery,  fired  from  the  bastions  of  the  castle,  an 
nounced  to  the  public  the  accession  of  the  Archduke 
Maximilian  to  the  throne  of  Mexico,  and  were  imme 
diately  followed  by  other  salutes  from  the  port  and 
town  of  Trieste.  Then  M.  Gutierrez  de  Estrada,  as 
president  of  the  deputation,  returned  thanks  to  his 
majesty  for  his  definitive  acceptance  of  the  Mexican 
crown.  He  said : 

"  Sire,  this  complete  and  absolute  acceptation  on  the 
part  of  your  Majesty  is  the  prelude  of  our  happiness  ; 
it  is  the  consecration  of  the  salvation  of  Mexico,  of  its 
approaching  regeneration,  of  its  future  greatness. 
Every  year,  on  this  day,  our  children  will  offer  up 
their  thanksgivings  to  heaven  in  gratitude  for  our 
miraculous  deliverance.  As  for  us,  sire,  there  remains 
a  last  duty  to  perform,  and  that  is  to  lay  at  your  feet 


90  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

our  love;  our  gratitude,  and  the  homage  of  our 
fidelity." 

The  arrangements  of  Maximilian  for  his  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic  were  soon  completed,  and  a  few 
days  afterward  he  embarked,  accompanied  by  the 
Empress  Carlotta,  and  attended  by  a  brilliant  retinue, 
composed  of  Mexican,  French,  and  Austrian  officers 
of  high  rank,  many  of  whom  also  were  accompanied 
by  their  wives  and  daughters.  The  Emperor  of 
Austria  had  placed  at  the  service  of  Maximilian,  for 
this  ocean  transit,  three  national  vessels,  although  one 
of  them  was  of  a  capacity  sufficient  to  convey  the 
young  Emperor,  with  most  of  the  members  of  his  suite, 
in  perfect  comfort.  The  voyage  was  a  very  pleasant 
one,  and  was  marked  by  no  unusual  incidents. 

Toward  the  end  of  May,  1864,  the  little  fleet  reached 
Vera  Cruz  in  safety,  and  the  distinguished  party 
immediately  landed.  They  were  received  by  the 
authorities  and  inhabitants  of  the  city,  with  every 
mark  of  consideration  and  respect,  and  Maximilian 
immediately  issued  the  following  proclamation. 


'  MEXICANS  : — You  have  desired  my  presence.  Your 
noble  nation,  by  a  universal  vote,  has  elected  me  hence 
forth  the  guardian  of  your  destinies.  I  gladly  obey 
your  will.  Painful  as  it  has  been  for  me  to  bid  farewell 
forever  to  my  own,  my  native  country,  I  have  done  so, 
being  convinced  that  the  Almighty  has  pointed  out  to 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  91 

me,  through  you,  the  great  and  noble  duty  of  devoting 
all  my  might  and  heart  to  the  care  of  a  people  who,  at 
last,  tired  of  war  and  disastrous  contests,  sincerely  wish 
for  peace  and  prosperity — a  people  who,  having  glori 
ously  obtained  their  independence,  desire  to  reap  the 
benefits  of  civilization  and  of  true  progress  only  to  be 
attained  through  a  stable  Constitutional  Government. 
The  reliance  that  you  place  in  me,  and  I  in  you,  will  i)e 
crowned  by  a  brilliant  triumph  if  we  remain  alwa}Ts 
steadfastly  united  in  courageously  defending  those 
great  principles  which  are  the  only  true  and  lasting 
basis  of  modern  government,  those  principles  of  inviola 
ble  and  immutable  justice,  the  equality  of  all  men  before 
the  law ;  equal  advantages  to  all  in  attaining  positions 
of  trust  and  honor,  socially  and  politically  ;  complete 
and  well-denned  personal  liberty,  consisting  in  protec 
tion  to  the  individual  and  the  protection  of  his  property ; 
encouragement  to  the  national  wealth,  improvements  in 
agriculture,  mining,  and  manufactures  ;  the  establish 
ment  of  new  lines  of  communication  for  an  extensive 
commerce;  and  lastly,  the  free  development  of  intelli 
gence  in  all  that  relates  to  public  welfare.  The  blessing 
of  God,  and  with  it  progress  and  liberty,  will  not  surely 
be  wanting  if  all  parties,  under  the  guidance  of  a  strong 
National  Government,  unite  together  to  accomplish 
what  I  have  just  indicated,  and  if  we  continue  to  be  ani 
mated  by  that  religious  sentiment  which  has  made  our 
beautiful  country  so  prominent  even  in  the  most  troub 
lous  periods. 

"  The  civilizing  flag  of  France,  raised  to  such  a  hiirh 


1)2  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN". 

position  by  her  noble  Emperor,  to  whom  you  owe  the 
new  birth  of  order  and  peace,  represents  those  princi 
ples.  Hear  what,  in  sincere  and  disinterested  words, 
the  chief  of  his  army  told  you  a  few  months  since,  being 
the  messenger  of  a  new  era  of  happiness  :  '  Every 
country  which  has  wished  for  a  great  future,  has  become 
great  and  powerful.' 

"  Following  in  this  course,  if  we  are  united,  loyal, 
and  firm,  God  will  grant  us  strength  to  reach  that 
degree  of  prosperity  which  is  the  object  of  our  am 
bition. 

"  Mexicans  :  The  future  of  your  beautiful  country  is 
controlled  by  yourselves.  Its  future  is  yours.  In  all 
that  relates  to  myself,  I  offer  you  a  sincere  will,  a  hearty 
loyalty,  and  a  firm  determination  to  respect  the  laws 
and  to  cause  them  to  be  respected  by  an  undeviating 
and  all-efficient  authority. 

"  My  strength  rests  in  God  and  in  your  loyal  confi 
dence.  The  banner  of  independence  is  my  symbol ; 
my  motto  you  know  already:  'Equal  justice  to  all.' 
I  will  be  faithful  to  this  trust  through  all  my  life.  It  is 
my  duty  conscientiously  to  wield  the  sceptre  of  author 
ity,  and  with  firmness  the  sword  of  honor. 

"  To  the  Empress  is  confided  the  sacred  trust  of  de 
voting  to  the  country  all  the  noble  sentiments  of  Chris 
tian  virtue  and  all  the  teachings  of  a  tender  mother. 

"  Let  us  unite  to  reach  the  goal  of  our  common  de 
sires  ;  let  us  forget  past  sorrows ;  let  us  lay  aside  party 
hatreds,  and  the  bright  morning  of  peace  and  of  well- 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  93 

deserved  happiness  will  dawn  gloriously  on  our  new 

empire. 

"  MAXIMILIAN. 

"VERA  CRUZ,  May  28,  1864." 

This  proclamation  was  immediately  circulated  all 
over  the  country,  and  it  had  a  most  happy  effect. 
After  being  at  the  mercy  of  one  military  adventurer 
after  another,  for  forty  years,  whose  boundless  rapa 
city  had  kept  them  in  constant  poverty,  the  Mexican 
people  now  hoped  that  a  deliverer  had  come  at  last, 
who  would  protect  them  in  their  persons  and  property 
and  allow  them  to  pursue  the  avocations  of  peace  and 
industry  in  security.  Nor  were  these  bright  anticipa 
tions  disappointed. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  1864,  the  Emperor  made  his 
formal  entry  into  the  capital  of  Mexico.  Escorted  by 
a  brilliant  retinue  of  troops,  whose  bright  uniforms, 
polished  armor,  and  glittering  weapons  flashed  in  the 
sunlight,  and  followed  by  a  motley  crowd  of  Indians, 
dressed  in  strange  and  uncouth  garments,  he  rode  into 
the  city  amid  the  noise  of  artillery,  and  the  clashing 
of  musical  instruments.  After  leaving  Rio  Frio,  he 
and  the  Empress  travelled  on  horseback  for  six  miles, 
arriving  at  the  hacienda  of  Zoquiapan  at  nightfall, 
while  the  rain  was  falling  copiously.  On  the  follow 
ing  day  (the  llth)  they  again  left  for  Ayutla  and 
Guadaloupe,  and  it  was  between  these  two  towns 
that  the  Indians  flocked  to  join  the  cavalcade,  bearing 


9-i  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

banners  made  of  palm  leaves  and  calico,  and  covered 
with  devices  and  inscriptions  in  the  Mexican  language. 
A  number  of  floral  arches  were  also  erected  along  the 
road,  and  on  one  or  two  occasions  children  were  sent 
out  with  bouquets  of  fresh  flowers  to  be  presented  to 
the  Empress,  who  received  them  with  great  kind 
ness  and  evident  satisfaction.  Deputations  of  citizens, 
male  and  female,  left  the  city  early  in  the  morning  to 
meet  the  imperial  party,  and,  arriving  at  Guaclaloupe 
at  about  noon,  added  to  the  activity  and  brilliancy  of 
the  scene. 

As  soon  as  the  cannon  of  the  fort  announced  the 
appearance  of  the  Emperor,  the  political  and  munici 
pal  authorities  went  out  to  greet  and  welcome  him. 
The  archbishops  of  Mexico  and  Michoacan  and  the 
bishop  of  Oajaca  awaited  their  majesties  at  some  dis 
tance  from  the  door  of  the  church,  and  on  their  ap 
proach  conducted  them  within  its  walls  under  a 
silken  canopy.  The  church  itself  was  decorated  for 
the  occasion  in  the  most  complete  and  expensive 
fashion,  a  throne  having  been  erected  for  the  sove 
reigns.  The  services  of  the  day  began  by  the  inton 
ing  of  the  "Domino  salvum  fac  Imperatorem"  by 
Archbishop  Labastida  and  the  other  prelates  present. 
At  the  close  of  the  religious  exercises  the  Emperor 
returned  to  the  entrance  and  passed  through  to  the 
cabildo.  Here,  in  one  of  the  largest  saloons,  the 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  95 

political  prefect  of  Mexico,  Senor  Villar  de  Bocanega, 
made  the  following  address  to  the  Emperor : 

"  SIRE  : — At  the  foot  of  the  portentous  Cerro  of 
Tepeyac,  and  divided  only  by  a  wall  from  the  temple 
in  which  is  venerated  the  protecting  mother  of  the 
Mexicans,  the  Guadaloupan  virgin,  the  political  prefect 
of  the  first  department  of  the  empire,  the  municipal 
prefect  of  the  great  city  of  Mexico,  the  ayuntamiento, 
the  archbishop  and  other  authorities,  full  of  the  most 
grateful  pleasure,  their  hearts  swelling  with  joy,  pre 
sent  themselves  before  their  beloved  sovereigns  to 
welcome  them  on  their  happy  arrival  at  the  gates  of 
the  city  in  which  is  erected  the  throne  which  the 
Mexicans  have  reared  for  them.  Words  fail  me  to 
express  at  once  our  gratitude  for  abandoning  another 
throne,  riches,  country,  parents,  brothers,  and  friends ; 
and  having  compassion  for  our  misfortunes,  your 
majesties  have  deigned  to  come  and  try  to  make  us 
happy,  and  to  save  us  from  the  evils  which  were  lead 
ing  us  to  disappear  from  the  catalogue  of  nations.  By 
information  and  writing  your  majesties  have  heard  of 
the  will  of  the  people,  and  now  you  personally  see 
that  you  have  not  been  deceived,  but  that  from  the 
shores  of  Yera  Cruz  to  the  gates  of  the  city  all 
acclaim  their  sovereigns,  their  enthusiasm  having  no 
limits.  The  Mexicans  will  continue  to  do  so  ;  and 
sire,  I  protest,  in  the  name  of  the  departments  under 


96  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

my  charge,  that  we  will  obey  and  assist  the  monarch 
whom  we  have  chosen." 

The  Emperor's  reply  was  brief  and  to  the  point. 
He  said: 

"Profoundly  moved  by  the  enthusiastic  reception 
which  I  have  from  all  the  towns  and  cities  in  my 
progress,  my  emotion  and  my  gratitude  acquire  new 
intensity  on  finding  myself  at  the  gates  of  the  capital, 
to  see  its  principal  authorities  assembled  to  congratu 
late  me  in  a  place  so  respected  and  so  dear  to  me  and 
the  Empress,  as  it  is  to  all  Mexicans.  I  thank  you 
for  your  felicitations  and  salute  you  with  the  warmth 
of  one  who  loves  you  and  who  has  identified  his  fate 
with  yours." 

At  the  close  of  this  little  speech,  which  the  Empe 
ror  spoke  with  great  earnestness,  applause  burst  forth 
on  all  sides,  accompanied  by  clapping  of  hands,  and 
waving  of  handkerchiefs  by  the  ladies.  Such  a  bril 
liant  sight  had  seldom  been  seen  in  Mexico  as  the 
appearance  of  the  city  on  this  occasion.  The  streets 
selected  for  the  imperial  transit  were  decorated  in 
the  most  profuse  and  dazzling  styles  of  beauty  and 
splendor.  Every  building,  public  and  private,  was 
closed  and  hung  with  flags  and  banners,  mingled 
with  festoons  of  flowers.  The  streets  and  public 
places  were  lined  with  soldiers,  French  for  the  most 
part.  Balconies  and  windows  commanding  a  view  of 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  97 

the  line  of  march  brought  fabulous  prices.  Churches 
and  church-towers  were  gaudily  decorated,  while  the 
bells  of  the  cathedral  and  other  edifices  kept  up  a 
continual  clangor.  The  palace  and  public  buildings 
in  the  square  were  sumptuously  ornamented,  and 
portraits  of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  appeared  at 
many  of  the  windows.  To  give  a  full  idea  of  the 
various  decorations  of  the  streets  would  occupy  much 
more  space  than  is  necessary.  But  it  must  be  confessed 
that  it  was  a  brilliant  and  successful  affair,  not  only  so 
far  as  the  mere  display  of  taste  was  concerned,  but  also 
because  it  was  accompanied  by  every  manifestation  of 
genuine  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  a  free  people. 

The  arrival  of  the  Emperor  was  made  known  by 
salvos  of  artillery  from  in  front  of  the  Portales,  and 
as  he  rode  along  in  an  open  carriage,  with  the  Em 
press  at  his  side,  the  ladies  from  the  balconies  and 
azoteas  showered  down  rose-leaves  and  gold  and  silver 
leaves  upon  them  in  great  profusion.  Frequently 
the  streets  were  so  crowded  with  people  that  the 
whole  cortege  had  to  stop,  and  then  the  Emperor 
would  bow  all  around  to  the  people  in  the  streets,  on 
the  balconies,  and  on  the  housetops.  Loud  cheers 
and  vivas  resounded  in  every  street  through  which 
the  brilliant  cavalcade  passed,  and  the  ladies  waved 
their  handkerchiefs  and  small  flags,  both  French  and 
Mexican.  The  Emperor  rode  along  the  Calle  San 
Francisco  to  Calle  Potrero,  and  thence  direct  to  the 


98  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

cathedral,  where  the  bishops  were  prepared  to  con 
duct  him  to  the  throne  there  erected  for  him.  The 
crowds  gathered  about  the  square  and  the  palace  at 
this  time  were  very  large,  but  there  was  no  disorder 
or  confusion. 

After  the  celebration  of  mass,  the  Emperor  received 
his  friends  in  the  national  palace,  and  presented  many 
of  them  to  the  Empress.  On  several  distinguished 
Mexicans  he  conferred  the  order  of  Guadaloupe. 
General  Mejia  was  among  those  who  were  thus  hon 
ored.  Banqueting  and  festivity  filled  up  the  rest  of 
the  day,  and  toward  evening  the  Emperor  took  a  ride 
in  the  groves  at  the  end  of  the  city. 

The  illumination  of  the  capital  in  the  evening  was 
the  most  brilliant  and  successful  part  of  the  whole 
demonstration.  As  darkness  fell  upon  the  city,  the 
dwellings  on  the  principal  streets  were  at  once  trans 
formed  into  palaces  of  light  and  beauty.  Brilliancy 
of  color  and  effect  prevailed  everywhere.  The  great 
square  or  plaza  in  front  of  the  palace  was  decorated 
and  illuminated  in  excellent  style,  while  the  centre  of 
the  enclosure  was  reserved  for  the  display  of  fire 
works  to  come  off  at  night.  The  palace  itself,  as  well 
as  the  Monte  Pio,  Portales,  Museum,  and  other  public 
and  private  edifices  in  the  vicinity,  blazed  with  lights 
of  every  order  of  form,  color,  and  brilliancy.  The 
cathedral,  with  its  old  towers  flashing  out  hundreds 
of  lights,  was  the  most  attractive  of  all.  From  its 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  99 

portals,  around  its  corridors,  and  to  the  highest  pin 
nacle  of  its  great  belfry,  innumerable  lamps  were  sus 
pended,  the  united  effect  of  so  many  lights, on  so  great 
an  eminence  being  very  beautiful.  The  windows  of 
the  towers,  too,  were  all  thrown  wide  open,  and  illu 
minated  ;  and  the  bells  therein  were  kept  continually 
revolving  and  thundering  out  their  loud  notes  of 
acclamation. 

At  eight  o'clock,  the  gathering  in  the  square  con 
sisted  of  many  thousands  of  people.  The  main  street, 
which  traverses  the  city  from  the  square  to  the  Ala- 
niada,  was  the  scene  of  much  activity,  beauty,  and 
attraction.  All  the  houses  along  its  whole  length 
were  draped  with  white  and  colored  curtains,  and 
from  the  windows,  balconies,  and  azoteas  floated  innu 
merable  national  flags,  banners,  and  ensigns.  Here 
and  there,  at  regular  distances,  gigantic  triumphal 
arches  were  erected,  and,  though  not  all  entirely  com 
plete  or  perfect,  adorned  with  a  multitude  of  green 
boughs,  odorous  blossoms  and  fresh  flowers,  gathered 
in  the  extensive  gardens  around  the  city.  Exquisite 
bouquets  and  garlands,  skilfully  worked  in  every 
style  of  native  art,  were  suspended  around  the  col 
umns,  tributes  of  ingenuity  and  of  loyalty  of  the 
Indian  peasants,  who  had  gathered  the  fragrant  roses 
in  the  bosom  of  the  tranquil  mountains.  Beneath 
the  gleaming  colored  light  of  thousands  of  lanterns, 
all  these  designs  and  architectural  triumphs  were  seen 


100  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

to  great  advantage.  The  principal  decorations  and 
illuminations  in  the  Calle  de  Potrero  and  the  Calle 
de  San  Francisco,  the  one  being  a  continuation  of  the 
other,  were  those  of  the  German  Club,  the  Hotel  de 
Iturbide,  and  the  residences  of  Messrs.  Barron  and 
Escandon,  wealthy  residents  of  Mexico.  The  German 
decorations  were  got  up  with  all  the  taste  and  ele 
gance  for  which,  this  people  are  so  famous  in  all  parts 
of  the  world.  Many  of  their  congratulatory  inscrip 
tions  were  written  in  the  language  of  "  Yaderland," 
and  must,  therefore,  have  been  particularly  pleasing 
to  the  Emperor.  M.  Escandon's  house  was  orna 
mented  by  two  splendid  oil  paintings  of  Maximilian 
and  Carlotta,  very  good  likenesses  indeed,  the  pro 
ductions  of  a  Mexican  priest.  The  residence  of  M. 
Barron  was  also  artistically  illuminated.  In  the  cen 
tre  were  two  paintings,  more  than  ten  feet  high,  the 
one  representing  Maximilian  seated  on  his  throne, 
attended  by  figures  of  Peace  and  Plenty,  and  handing 
to  Almonte  a  scroll  of  the  Constitution.  In*  the  per 
spective,  Napoleon  the  Third  was  seen  pointing  to 
the  valley  of  Mexico,  where  a  couple  of  very  large 
oxen  were  seen  ploughing,  and  a  railroad  extending 
in  circuitous  lines  until  it  was  lost  in  the  clouds. 
The  other  painting  was  a  representation  of  the  Em- 

*  See  Report  on  Mexican  affairs,  in  the  first  volume  of 
''Executive  Documents,  No.  73,"  transmitted  to  Congress, 
March  20,  1866. 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  101 

press  surrounded  by  the  ladies  of  the  court.  The 
scene  along  the  street,  from  seven  to  ten  at  night,  was 
more  like  the  realization  of  some  fairy  dream  than  of 
any  thing  else  one  could  suppose. 

Thus  was  Maximilian  welcomed  to  his  capital. 
From  that  moment  to  the  present,  the  attachment  of 
the  Mexican  people  to  his  person  and  his  govern 
ment  has  never  wavered,  but  has,  on  the  other  hand, 
steadily  increased.  This  attachment  is  based  upon 
the  gratitude  which  the  Mexicans  feel,  for  the  un 
wearied  zeal  with  which  the  Emperor  has  devoted 
himself  to  the  advancement  of  the  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  the  people,  and  upon  the  success  which 
has  attended  his  endeavors. 

The  task  which  Maximilian  found  before  him,  on 
assuming  the  administration  of  the  government  of 
Mexico,  was  probably  the  most  difficult  that  has  ever 
confronted  any  ruler  or  chief  magistrate  of  modern 
times.  Everything  was  in  confusion.  Forty  years 
of  anarchy  had  destroyed  all  order  and  system,  in 
every  department  of  the  government.  The  people 
were  impoverished  by  the  repeated  exactions  of  the 
republican  chiefs  who  had  succeeded  each  other  in 
the  supreme  power.  Agriculture  languished,  because 
to  plant,  cultivate,  and  raise  a  crop,  was  only  to  do  s(/ 
for  the  benefit  of  some  republican  guerrilla  chief,  who 
would  swoop  down  upon  the  farmer's  barn,  and  carry 
off  the  whole  produce  of  his  farm,  as  soon  as  it 


102  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

harvested.  The  mechanic  arts  languished,  because . 
the  incessant  civil  wars  that  had  prevailed,  had  com 
pelled  nearly  all  the  young  men  in  the  country  to 
serve  under  the  banners  of  one  or  the  other  of  the 
contending  chiefs,  and  there  were  few  left  at  home, 
either  to  learn,  or  to  carry  on,  the  useful  arts.  Com 
merce  languished  for  the  same  reason,  and,  also,  be 
cause  even  the  most  wealthy  merchants  were  liable  to 
be  deprived  of  the  fruits  of  years  of  labor  and  enter 
prise,  by  the  forced  loans  and  forced  contributions 
which  were  levied  incessantly  by  the  republican 
chiefs  ;  exactions  which  it  was  impossible  to  resist, 
and  for  which  no  redress  could  be  obtained.  In  a 
word,  every  department  of  industry  was  paralyzed ; 
the  wealth  of  the  country  was  drained  by  the  chief 
of  whatever  republican  party  happened  to  be  in  power, 
and  was  lavished  to  enrich  his  followers ;  and  jjo  jane 
had  any  incentive  to  engage  in  any  of  those  enter 
prises  which  develope  the  resources,  increase  the 
wealth,  and,  add  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of 
other  countries. 

The  Emperor  fully  comprehended  the  situation, 
and  set  himself  resolutely  to  work  to  effect  a  radical 
change  in  all  these  particulars.  The  principles  upon 
which  the  government  was  to  be  administered,  had 
already  been  enunciated,  and  had  commended  them 
selves  to  the  approval  of  every  intelligent  Mexican. 
First  of  all,  the  Emperor  caused  it  to  be  distinctly 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  103 

understood,  that  henceforth  every  citizen  of  Mexico 
was  to  be  protected  by  the  laws,  in  his  person  and  his 
property ;  that  life  and  property  were  to  be  secure ; 
and  that  every  one  was  expected  to  devote  himself 
with  assiduity  to  his  business,  without  any  apprehen 
sion  of  being  called  upon  for  compulsory  military  ser 
vice.  No  sooner  was  this  understood,  than  a  marked 
change  took  place  at  once,  all  over  the  empire.  The 
merchants,  in  the  large  towns,  who  were  fortunate 
enough  to  have  agricultural  implements  for  sale, 
were  besieged  by  crowds  of  farmers  anxious  to  buy 
ploughs,  scythes,  forks,  shovels,  rakes,  any  thing 
with  which  they  might  resume  the  cultivation  of 
their  long  neglected  fields.  The  supply  of  these  arti 
cles  was  soon. exhausted  ;  but  orders  were  sent  to 
New  York  and  Philadelphia  for  fresh  supplies,  as 
well  as  for  the  more  improved  descriptions  of  imple 
ments  which  had  not  yet  been  introduced  in  Mexico. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  a  trade  of  this  kind,  be 
tween  Mexico  and  the  cities  of  the  United  States, 
which,  although,  of  moderate  dimensions  during  the 
war,  has  grown  to  very  large  proportions  during  the 
last  two  years.  And  here  is  a  fact  that  speaks  vol 
umes  in  favor  of  the  Mexican  merchants.  Their  first 
purchases  were  made  on  credit;  necessarily  so,  for 
they  were  so  impoverished  by  their  forced  "contri 
butions"  to  the  republican  chiefs  as  to  be  unable  to 
pay  in  cash  ;  but  their  bills  were  always  promptly 


104  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

met:  and  now,  and  for  more  than  a  year  past,  they 
both  buy  and  sell  for  cash.  There  could  not  be  a 
stronger  proof  than  this,  of  the  real  and  substantial 
benefits  which  the  government  of  Maximilian  has 
conferred  upon  the  Mexican  people. 

In  every  other  department  of  industry  in  Mexico, 
the  same  enterprise  began  to  be  exhibited,  and  with 
the  same  encouraging  results.  The  mechanic  arts  re 
ceived  a  powerful  impetus.  Mexican  mechanics  have 
always  been  noted  for  their  ingenuity,  and  for  the 
excellence  of  their  workmanship.  Encouraged  now 
by  the  prospect  of  certain  remuneration  for  their 
labor,  they  devoted  themselves  in  all  the  principal 
cities  and  towns,  to  their  respective  departments  of 
labor  with  an  assiduity  which  met  with  an  immediate 
and  generous  reward.  Before  the  lapse  of  many 
months,  hundreds  of  the  Mexican  youth,  instead  of 
growing  up  in  idleness  and  crime,  were  apprenticed 
by  their  parents  to  skilled  artisans  in  the  various 
handicrafts,  and  are  now  qualifying  themselves  for 
lives  of  usefulness.  The  demand  for  the  work  of 
these  artisans  has  steadily  increased.  Nearly  all  the 
furniture  used  in  Mexico  is  made  by  them ;  and  they 
are  very  skilful  workers  in  gold  and  silver  ware,  and 
in  all  the  various  manufactures  of  iron  and  brass. 
The  productive  industry  of  this  very  useful  class  of 
citizens  is  not  confined  to  the  capital  and  the  chief 
cities.  In  States  at  a  distance  from  the  capital, 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  105    * 

the  same  security  has  been  felt,  and  the  same  enter 
prise  manifested.  During  the  summer  of  1866,  and 
before  the  Empress  Carlotta  sailed  for  Europe,  both 
she  and  the  Emperor  were  the  recipients  of  many 
beautiful  presents  consisting  of  useful  and  valuable 
articles,  manufactured  by  native  Mexicans  in  distant 
parts  of  the  empire.  From  Yucatan,  the  Empress 
received  several  handsome  workboxes  and  work- 
stands,  made  of  native  Mexican  wood,  beautifully  pol 
ished,  and  inlaid  with  gold  and  silver;  and  a  splendid 
ladies'  saddle,  which  was  described  to  the  author,  by 
a  gentleman  who  saw  it,  as  the  most  superb  specimen 
of  saddlery  that  he  had  ever  seen.  A  bridle,  whip, 
and  elegant  saddle-cloth,  richly  embroidered,  all  of 
native  Mexican  manufacture,  accompanied  the  saddle ; 
and  these  articles,  rich  as  they  were,  are  only  a  speci 
men  of  the  articles  that  are  commonly  made  by  the 
Mexican  artisans. 

The  commerce  of  Mexico  received  at  once  a  power 
ful  impetus.  It  was  to  some  extent  hampered  at  first, 
bv-  the  existence  of  the  war  in  the  United  States. 
But  with  the  West  Indies,  with  South  America,  and 
with  several  of  the  European  countries,  a  brisk  trade 
at  once  sprang  up,  which  has  been  steadily  increas 
ing  ever  since,  and  has  been,  for  the  last  two  year.-, 
a  source  of  considerable  revenue  to  the  imperial 
treasury. 


106  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Causes  of  the  Success  of  Maximilian's  Government — Severe  Measures 
Adopted  against  the  Guerillas— Good  Effect  of  these  Measures— The 
Authority  of  the  Empire  Gradually  Extended  over  the  Whole  of  Mexico 
— Republican  Mexican  Soldiers  join  the  Army  of  Maximilian — Their 
Reasons  for  doing  so — Construction  of  Railroads,  and  Other  Works  of 
Internal  Improvement — The  New  Coinage — The  Finances — Encourage- 
Hnent  Afforded  to  Education  hy  Maximilian — Encouragement  Extended 
to  Literature — Freedom  of  Religion  in  Mexico — The  Administration  of 
Justice — Publication  of  the  Mexican  Laws — Admirable  Features  of  the 
Mexican  Code — The  Empress  Carlotta — Her  Visit  to  Yucatan. 

THE  success  which  has  attended  the  administration 
of  the  government  of  Mexico  during  the  last  three 
years,  may  be  attributed  to  two  causes :  first  to  the 
indomitable  energy  and  perseverance  of  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  himself  and  to  his  admirable  and  unusual 
administrative  qualities;  and  to  the  incomparably 
noble  manner  in  which  all  his  efforts  have  been 
seconded  by  his  devoted  and  affectionate  wife,  the 
Empress  Carlotta : — and  second,  to  the  fact  that  he  has 
been  fortunate  in  having  around  him  a  body  of  Mexi 
can  gentlemen,  both  in  and  out  of  his  cabinet,  who 
are  truly  and  honestly  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
their  country ;  and  who,  with  unselfish  patriotism, 
have  consecrated  their  lives  to  its  service.  Every 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  107 

monarcb;  no  matter  how  active  he  may  be,  must,  to 
some  extent,  see  with  the  eyes,  and  hear  with  the  ears 
of  other  people.  Maximilian  has  travelled  considera 
bly  in  Mexico,  and  has  seen  and  heard  for  himself 
as  much  as  possible,  of  the  condition  of  the  country 
and  the  people  :  but  he  has  derived  immense  advan 
tage  from  the  information  and  suggestions  furnished 
to  him  by  the  Mexican  gentlemen  to  whom  I  have 
alluded,  who,  of  course,  are  perfectly  acquainted  with 
all  that  relates  to  the  interests  of  the  country. 

In  the  organization  of  his  government,  Maximilian 
wisely  availed  himself  of  the  services  of  these  Mexi 
can  gentlemen,  as  well  as  of  the  experienced  states 
men  and  financiers  who  had  been  sent  to  his  assist 
ance  by  the  Emperor  Napoleon.  His  council '  of 
Ministers,  and  his  council  of  State,  were  thus  com 
posed  of  the  very  men  who  were  best  qualified  to 
give  proper  direction  to  the  various  measures  neces 
sary  to  carry  on  the  government. 

There  were  three  subjects,  which  seemed  to  demand 
the  immediate  attention  of  the  Emperor.  These  were 
the  finances,  military  operations,  and  the  treatment 
of  the  robbers  and  guerrillas  by  whom  the  roads  in 
Mexico  were  infested. 

A  year  had  elapsed  since  the  capture  of  Mexico  by 
General  Forey,  and  the  defeat  and  dispersion  of  the 
republican  army.  During  that  time  the  French  forces 
in  Mexico  had  been  actively  engaged  in  pursuing  tha 


108  MEXICO    UXDEB     MAXIMILIAN. 

remnants  of  the  republican  troops,  who,  broken  up 
into  small  detachments,  roamed  all  over  the  country, 
robbing  and  murdering  travellers,  and  plundering 
and  burning  houses,  and  even  villages.  This  kind 
of  warfare,  on  the  part  of  the  French  troops,  was 
exceedingly  laborious  and  unprofitable,  and  was 
attended  by  few  decisive  results.  The  guerrillas,  by 
their  superior  knowledge  of  the  roads  and  mountain 
passes,  almost  uniformly  escaped  capture.  They 
always  retreated  before  the  French,  and  thus  drew 
them  on,  many  a  weary  mile,  through  difficult  moun 
tain  passes,  and  then  at  last  eluded  them. 

The  atrocities  which  they  committed  were  horrible. 
Robbery  and  murder  were  the  least  of  their  crimes. 
The  outrages  which  they  committed  on  the  helpless 
women  who  fell  into  their  hands,  were  too  dreadful 
to  speak  of  in  detail;  but  these  atrocities  roused 
against  them  the  anger  of  every  Mexican.  The 
Emperor  therefore  issued  the  following  proclamation 
and  decree,  on  the  2d  and  3d  of  October,  1865. 

"  PROCLAMATION  OF  HIS  MAJESTY  THE  EMPEROR. 

"  MEXICANS  : — The  cause  which  Don  Benito  Juarez 
defended  with  so  pauch  valor  and  constancy  has  already 
succumbed  under  the  force,  not  only  of  the  national 
will,  but  also  of  the  very  law  which  that  officer  invoked 
in  support  of  his  pretensions.  To-day  even  the  faction 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  109 

into  which  the  said  cause  degenerated  is  abandoned 
by  the  departure  of  its  chief  from  the  native  soil. 

"  The  national  government  for  a  long  time  was 
lenient  and  exercised  great  clemency,  in  order  to  give 
the  chance  to  misled  and  misinformed  men  to  rally  to 
the  majority  of  the  nation  and  to  place  themselves 
anew  in  the  path  of  duty.  It  has  fulfilled  its  object ; 
the  honorable  men  have  assembled  under  its  banner, 
and  have  accepted  the  just  and  liberal  principles  which 
regulate  its  politics.  The  disorder  is  only  maintained 
by  some  leaders  carried  away  by  unpatriotic  passions, 
and  assisted  by  demoralized  persons  who  cannot  reach 
to  the  level  of  political  principles,  and  by  an  unprinci 
pled  soldiery,  the  last  and  sad  remnants  of  the  civil 
wars. 

"  Hereafter  the  contest  will  ou\y  be  between  the 
honorable  men  of  the  nation  and  the  gangs  of  criminals 
and  robbers.  Clemency  will  cease  now,  for  it  would 
only  profit  the  mob  who  burn  villages,  rob  and  murder 
peaceful  citizens,  poor  old  men  and  defenceless  women. 

"  The  government,  resting  on  its  power,  from  this 
day  will  be  inflexible  in  its  punishments,  since  the  laws 
of  civilization,  the  rights  of  humanity,  and  the  exigen 
cies  of  morality  demand  it. 

"  MEXICO,  October  2,  1865.  MAXIMILIAN." 

"  MAXIMILIAN,  EMPEROR  OF  MEXICO. 
"  HAVING   heard  our  council   of  ministers   and  our 
council  of  state,  we  decree  . 

"  ARTICLE  1.     All  persons  belonging  to  armed  bands 


110  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

or  corps,  not  legally  authorized,  whether  they  proclaim 
or  not  any  political  principles,  and  whatever  be  the 
number  of  those  who  compose  the  said  bands,  their 
organization,  character,  and  denomination,  shall  be 
tried  militarily  by  the  courts-martial ;  and  if  found 
guilty  even  of  The  only  fact  of  belonging  to  the  baud, 
they  shall  be  condemned  to  capital  punishment  within 
the  twenty-four  hours  following  the  sentence. 

ART.  2.  Those  who,  belonging  to  the  bands  men 
tioned  in  the  previous  article,  will  be  captured  with 
arms  in  their  hands,  shall  be  tried  by  the  officer  of  the 
force  which  has  captured  them,  and  he  shall,  within  a 
delay  never  extending  over  twenty-four  hours  after  the 
said  capture,  make  a  verbal  inquest  of  the  offence, 
hearing  the  defence  of  the  prisoner.  Of  this  inquest 
he  will  draw  an  act,  closing  with  the  sentence,  which 
must  be  to  capital  punishment,  if  the  accused  is  found 
guilty,  even  if  only  of  the  fact  of  belonging  to  the 
band.  The  officer  shall  have  the  sentence  executed 
within  the  twenty-four  hours  aforesaid,  seeing  that  the 
criminal  receive  spiritual  assistance.  The  sentence 
having  been  executed,  the  officer  shall  forward  the  act 
of  inquest  to  the  minister  of  war. 

"Art  3.  From  the  penalty  established  in  the  pre 
ceding  articles  shall  only  be  exempted  those  who, 
having  done  nothing  more  than  being  with  the  band, 
will  prove  that  they  were  made  to  join  it  by  force,  or 
did  not  belong  to  it,  but  were  found  accidentally  in  it. 

"ART.  4.  If,  from  the  inquest  mentioned  in  article 
two,  facts  are  elicited  which  induce  the  officer  holding 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  Ill 

it  to  believe  that  the  prisoner  was  made  to  join  the 
band  by  force,  without  having  committed  any  other 
crime,  or  that  he  was  found  accidentally  in  it,  without 
belonging  to  it,  the  said  officer  shall  abstain  from 
passing  sentence,  and  he  shall  send  the  accused,  with 
the  respective  act  of  inquest  to  the  proper  court-martial 
in  order  that  the  trial  be  proceeded  with  by  the  latter, 
in  conformity  with  article  one. 

"AnT.  5.  Shall  be  tried  and  sentenced  conformably 
with  article  one  of  this  law:  1st.  All  those  who  will 
voluntarily  assist  the  guerriUcros  with  money,  or  any 
other  means  whatever.  2d.  Those  who  will  give  them 
advice,  information,  or  counsel.  3d.  Those  who  volun 
tarily,  and  knowing  that  they  arc  rjuerrilleros,  will  put 
within  their  reach,  or  sell  them  arms,  horses,  ammuni 
tion,  subsistence,  or  any  articles  of  war  whatever. 

"A  TIT.  G.  Shall  also  be  tried  conformably  with  the  said 
article  1st:  1.  Those  who  will  hold  with  the  gucrril- 
lerox  such  relations  as  infer  connivance  with  them.  2. 
Those  who  voluntarily  and  knowingly  will  conceal 
them  in  their  houses  or  estates.  3.  Those  who,  by 
word,  or  writing,  will  spread  false  or  alarming  reports, 
by  which  public  order  may  be  disturbed,  or  will  make 
against  it  any  kind  of  demonstration  whatever.  4. 
All  owners  or  administrators  of  rural  estates  who  will 
not  give  prompt  notice  to  the  nearest  authority  of  the 
passage  of  some  band  through  the  same  estates.  Those 
included  in  paragraphs  1st  and  2d  of  this  article  shall 
bo  punished  b}T  imprisonment  from  six  months  to  two 
years,  or  by  hard  luhor  from  one  to  three  }rear3; 


112  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

according  to  the  gravity  of  the  case.  Those  who,  being 
included  in  paragraph  2d,  were  the  ascendants,  descen 
dants,  spouses,  or  brothers  of  the  party  concealed  by 
them,  shall  not  suffer  the  penalty  aforesaid,  but  they 
shall  remain  subject  to  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities 
during  the  time  the  court-martial  will  fix.  Those  in 
cluded  in  paragraph  3d  of  this  article  shall  be  punished 
by  a  fine  of  from  twenty-five  to  one  thousand  dollars, 
or  by  imprisonment  from  one  month  to  one  }rear,  accord 
ing  to  the  gravity  of  the  offence.  Those  included  in 
paragraph  4th  of  this  article  shall  be  punished  by  a  fine 
of  from  two  hundred  to  two  thousand  dollars. 

"Art  T.  The  local  authorities  of  the  villages  who 
will  not  give  notice  to  their  immediate  superiors  of  the 
passage  through  their  villages  of  armed  men  will  be 
ministerially  punished  by  the  said  superiors  by  a  fine 
of  from  two  hundred  dollars  to  two  thousand  dollars, 
or  by  seclusion  from  three  months  to  two  years. 

"Art.  8.  Whatever  resident  of  a  village  who,  having 
information  of  the  proximity  or  passage  of  armed  men  by 
the  village,  will  not  give  notice  of  it  to  the  authorities, 
shall  suffer  a  fine  of  from  five  to  five  hundred  dollars. 

"ART.  9.  All  residents  of  a  village  threatened  by 
some  gang,  who  are  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
fifty-five  years,  and  hrwe  no  pl^sical  disability,  are 
obliged  to  present  themselves  for  the  common  defence 
as  soon  as  called,  and  for  failing  to  do  so  they  shall  be 
punished  by  a  fine  of  from  five  to  two  hundred  dollars, 
or  by  imprisonment  of  fifteen  days  to  four  months.  If 
the  authorities  think  it  more  proper  to  punish  the 


MEXICO    UXDER     MAXIMILIAN.  113 

village  for  not  having  defended  itself,  they  may  impose 
upon  it  a  fine  of  from  two  hundred  to  two  thousand 
dollars,  and  the  said  fine  shall  be  paid  by  all  those 
together,  who,  being  in  the  category  prescribed  by  this 
article,  did  not  present  themselves  for  the  common 
defence. 

"Airr.  10.  All  owners  or  administrators  of  rural 
estates,  who,  being  able  to  defend  themselves,  will  not 
prevent  the  entrance  in  the  said  estates,  of  guerrilleros 
or  other  malefactors  ;  or,  after  these  have  entered,  will 
not  give  the  immediate  information  of  it  to  the  nearest 
militaiy  authority  ;  or  it  will  receive  on  the  estates  the 
tired  or  wounded  horses  of  the  gangs,  without  notifying 
the  said  authority  of  the  fact,  shall  be  punished  for  it 
by  a  fine  of  from  one  hundred  dollars  to  two  thousand 
dollars,  according  to  the  importance  of  the  case  ;  and 
if  it  is  of  great  gravity,  they  shall  be  put  in  prison  and 
sent  to  the  court-martial,  to  be  tried  by  the  latter  con 
formably  with  the  law.  The  fine  shall  be  paid  to  the 
principal  administrator  of  rents  to  which  the  estate 
belongs.  The  provision  of  the  first  part  of  this  article 
is  applicable  to  the  populations. 

"ART.  11.  Whatever  authorities,  whether  political, 
military,  or  municipal,  shall  abstain  from  proceeding, 
in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  this  law,  against 
parties  suspected  or  known  to  have  committed  the 
offences  provided  for  in  said  law,  will  be  ministerially 
punished  by  a  fine  of  from  fifty  dollars  to  one  thousand 
dollars ;  and  if  it  appear  that  the  fault  was  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  import  complicity  with  the  criminal,  the 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

said  authorities  will  be  submitted,  by  order  of  the 
government,  to  the  court-martial,  to  be  tried  by  the 
latter,  and  punished  according  to  the  gravity  of  the 
offence. 

"ART.  12.  Thieves  shall  be  tried  and  sentenced  in 
conformity  with  article  1st  of  this  law,  whatever  may 
be  the  nature  and  circumstances  of  the  theft. 

ART.  13.  The  sentence  of  death  pronounced  for 
offences  provided  for  by  this  law  shall  be  executed 
within  the  delays  prescribed  in  it,  and  it  is  prohibited 
that  any  demands  for  pardon  be  gone  through.  If  the 
sentence  is  not  of  death,  and  the  criminal  is  a  foreigner 
even  after  its  execution,  the  government  may  use 
toward  him  the  faculty  it  has  to  expel  from  the  terri 
tory  of  the  nation  all  obnoxious  strangers. 

"ART.  14.  *  Amnesty  is  granted  to  all  those  who 
may  have  belonged,  and  may  still  belong,  to  armed 
bands,  if  they  present  themselves  to  the  authorities 
before  the  15th  of  November  next,  provided  they  have 
not  committed  any  other  offences  subsequently  to  the 
date  of  the  present  law.  The  authorities  will  receive 
the  arms  of  those  who  will,  present  themselves  to  accept 
the  amnesty. 

"ART.  15.  The  government  reserves  the  faculty  to 
declare  when  the  provisions  of  this  law  will  cease. 

"  Each  one  of  our  ministers  is  charged  with  the  execu 
tion  of  this  law  in  the  part  which  concerns  him,  and 
will  give  the  necessary  orders  for  its  strict  observance. 

"  Given  at  the  palace  of  Mexico  on  the  3d  of  October 
1865.  "  MAXIMILIAN." 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  115 

The  good  effects  of  the  course  thus  determined  upon  j 
were  immediately  apparent.     During  the  course  of 
the   ensuing   six  weeks,    several  hundred  men,  who 
belonged  to  these  guerrilla  bands,  voluntarily  came 
in,  gave  up  their  arms,  received  the  executive  clem 
ency,  and  began  to  engage  once  more  in  the  pursuits 
of  honest  industry.    It  was  a  remarkable  circumstance 
that  almost  all  those  who  thus  eagerly  embraced  the 
opportunity  of  withdrawing  from  a  life  of  crime,  were 
young  men,  mostly  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  years 
of  age      They  stated  that  they  had  been  forced  to 
enter   the  republican  army,   and   on  the  defeat  and 
dispersion  of  that  army  had  been  persuaded  by  their  | 
older  comrades  to  join  the  guerilla  bands.     So  far  as  I 
is  known,  all  of  them  have  become  honest  and  useful  ) 
citizens. 

Tbe  remnants  of  the  guerilla  bands  now  withdrew 
themselves  to  the  more  remote  parts  of  the  empire,  and 
the  principal  roads  were  no  longer  infested  by  their 
presence.  The  operations  against  them  were  contin 
ued  with  great  vigor,  and  whenever  any  of  them  were 
captured  they  were  summarily  dealt  with. 

The  military  operations  were  conducted  under  the 
direction  of  General  Bazaine.  Although  the  main 
army  of  the  republic  had  been  destroyed  and  its  frag 
ments  dispersed,  there  yet  remained  in  the  field,  in 
various  parts  of  the  empire,  certain  detachments  of 
republican  troops,  who  continued  to  be  a  source  of 


116  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

considerable  trouble.  Juarez  himself,  with  a  few  hun 
dred  men,  had  retreated  from  Mexico  to  San  Luis 
Potosi ;  from  San  Luis  to  Zacatecas  ;  from  Zacatecas  to 
Saltillo ;  from  Saltillo  -to  Monterey  ;  from  Monterey  to 
Chihuahua.  This  place  was  at  such  a  distance  from 
the  City  of  Mexico  (nine  hundred  miles  by  the  roads, 
or  as  far  as  from  New  Orleans  to  Chicago),  that  it  was 
a  work  of  the  greatest  difficulty  to  carry  on  military 
operations  over  so  great  an  extent  of  country ;  and 
therefore  Juarez  was  able  to  remain  at  Chihuahua  for 
several  months.  During  the  summer  of  1865,  how 
ever,  he  was  driven  from  that  place  by  a  few  regiments 
of  French  troops,  and  escaped  to  El  Paso  del  ISTorte,  on 
the  extreme  northern  frontier  of  Mexico.  By  the 
month  of  September,  1865,  he  was  compelled  to  leave 
that  place  also,  and,  crossing  the  Eio  Grande,  he  fled 
for  some  distance  into  Texas.  It  was  then  that  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  issued  the  proclamation  of  Octo 
ber  2d,  quoted  above. 

By  that  time,  the  good  effects  of  Maximilian's  mild 
but  firm  government  had  begun  to  be  felt  in  all  parts 
of  the  empire  The  Mexican  people  of  all  classes  saw, 
that,  for  the  first  time  in  forty  years,  Mexico  had  a  good 
government,  a  government  which  had  at  heart  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  people.  Thousands 
of  the  Mexican  citizens  who  had  heretofore  been  at 
tached  to  the  republic,  now  gave  in  their  adhesion  to 
the  empire;  and  besides  this,  hundreds  of  soldiers 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  117 

deserted  the  various  detachments  of  republican  troops 
that  still  maintained  their  organization,  and  asked  to 
be  allowed  to  take  service  under  Maximilian.  A  gen 
tleman  who  has  lived  many  years  in  Mexico,  has 
related  to  the  author  a  conversation  which  he  had  with 
one  of  these  deserters,  who,  at  that  time,  was  a  ser 
geant  in  one  of  Maximilian's  Mexican  regiments.  He 
found  the  man  very  intelligent,  and  when  he  asked 
him  why  he  had  wished  to  join  Maximilian's  army,  lie 
replied,  "  Because  I  and  my  comrades  had  learned 
what  the  Emperor  had  done  for  Mexico,  how  the 
country  was  prosperous  and  happy  wherever  his 
authority  extended,  and  how  the  Empress  was  exerting 
herself  to  build  up  and  support  schools  and  factories." 
The  feelings  of  this  humble  Mexican  soldier  were  no 
doubt  the  feelings  of  thousands  of  his  comrades  and 
countrymen.  A  letter  from  Mexico,  written  at  this 
time,  says: 

"  The  work  of  pacification  is  progressing  satisfactorily 
in  several  departments  of  the  empire.  The  States  of 
Oajaca,  of  Colima,  and  of  Sonoro  are  now,  after  years 
of  bloody  conflicts,  enjoying  a  certain  degree  of  peace 
and  security.  Guerillas  have  disappeared  from  most  of 
the  districts,  and  the  population  is  pursuing  with  great 
energy  the  few  bands  who  remain  yet  in  the  mountains 

"  The  imperialists  are  in  hope  to  crush  the  guerillas  in 
the  opening  campaign,  and  in  less  than  a  year  succeed 
in  completely  pacifying  the  country.  They  base  their 


118  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

confidence  upon  the  fact  that  a  year  ago  Juarez  was , 
still  in  possession  of  several  States  and  cities  from 
which  he  has  been  expelled  without  trouble  or  resist 
ance,  most  part  of  the  time  by  the  inhabitants  themselves, 
and  without  the  assistance  of  the  French.  They  say 
that,  during  these  twelve  months,  the  cities  of  Matamoras, 
Monterey,  and  Mazatlan  have  been  occupied,  the  State 
of  Talisco  completely  pacified,  the  State  of  Oajaca  con 
quered,  Sonoro  submitted,  and  the  last  organized  corps 
of  the  Juarists  destroyed  or  dispersed.  Juarez  himself, 
compelled  to  leave  the  central  part  of  Mexico,  has  so 
little  expectation  of  causing  any  portion  of  the  people, 
however  small,  to  rise  in  his  behalf,  that  he  deems  it  pru 
dent  to  run  to  the  frontier  and  to  place  himself  under 
protection  of  the  guns  placed  along  the  Texan  shore." 

Such  a  thing  as  a  railroad  in  Mexico  was  unknown 
before  the  advent  of  Maximilian.  But  at  a  very  early 
period  of  his  administration  he  devoted  his  attention 
to  this  subject.  By  offering  encouragement  to  capital 
ists  and  engineers,  he  soon  had  several  lines  of  railway 
undertaken,  on  all  of  which  satisfactory  progress  has 
been  made.  The  principal  line  is  the  one  from  Yera 
Cruz  to  the  capital.  Of  this,  one  half  of  the  distance 
is  now  completed  and  in  operation.  This  road  is  being 
built  by  the  eminent  engineers.  Smith,  Knight  &  Co., 
of  London.  The  solid  and  substantial  character  of  the 
work  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
bridges,  near  Orizaba,  constructed  entirely  of  iron,  is 
nine  hundred  feet  long  and  three  hundred  feet  high. 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  119 

Other  works  of  internal  improvement  were  at  once 
commenced,  and  carried  on  with  vigor  under  the 
direction  of  the  government.  The  roads  and  canals 
were  repaired  and  improved ;  an  improved  system  of 
drainage  was  adopted  for  the  capital,  and  the  city  of 
Mexico  was  adorned  and  beautified  by  the  establish 
ment  of  a  new  and  extensive  park,  which  owes  its 
existence  to  the  liberality  and  public  spirit  of  the 
Empress. 

The  finances  were  placed  in  charge  of  M.  Langlais, 
a  very  able  French  financier,  who  speedily  brought 
order  out  of  confusion.  Under  his  wise  and  judicious 
administration,  the  revenues  of  the  country  were 
placed  upon  such  a  basis  as  very  soon  afforded  a  satis 
factory  income.  M.  Langlais  unfortunately  died  some 
months  ago ;  but  before  his  death  he  had  the  satisfac 
tion  of  reporting  to  the  Emperor  that  the  revenue  of 
Mexico  was  now  ample  to  support  the  government  and 
leave  a  surplus  for  the  payment  of  the  foreign  liabili 
ties. 

Mexico  does  not  enjoy  the  blessing  of  "  greenbacks/' 
or  national  bank-notes  thirty-seven  cents  below  par ; 
nor  do  the  Mexicans  have  the  luxury  of  a  fractional 
currency.  They  are  obliged  to  content  themselves 
with  the  old-fashioned  gold  and  silver  coins  as  a  cir 
culating  medium.  Maximilian  has  kept  the  mints 
busy  ever  since  his  accession ;  and  in  the  spring  of 
1866  he  began  to  coin  the  new  gold  and  silver  pieces 


120  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

that  are  now  in  circulation.  The  new  silver  dollar, 
and  the  twenty  dollar  gold  coin,  are  both  beautiful 
specimens  of  coinage,  bearing  on  one  side  the  head  of 
the  Emperor,  and  on  the  other  the  time-honored 
Mexican  sentiment,  "God  and  Liberty." 

During  the  first  journeys  which  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  took,  in  various  parts  of  Mexico,  they  were 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  cause  of  education 
throughout  the  country  needed  great  encouragement. 
That  encouragement  they  have  afforded  in  the'  most 
liberal  and  munificent  manner.  Schools  and  acade 
mies  have  been  everywhere  established,  even  in  such 
remote  States  as  Yucatan,  and  liberal  provision  has 
been  made  for  their  support ;  and  all  the  colleges  in 
Mexico  have  received  large  endowments  from  the  im 
perial  purse.  A  letter  from  Mexico,  in  April,  1866, 
says : 

"  LIBERALITY  OF  THE  EMPEROR  AND  EMPRESS. 

"  Their  majesties  expended  a  large  portion  of  their 
yearly  salary — five  hundred  thousand  dollars — in  works 
of  charity,  donations  to  schools  and  benevolent  institu 
tions,  and  works  of  public  improvement.  The  Alameda 
of  this  city,  one  year  since,  was  a  disgrace  to  any  coun 
try  village,  being  nothing  more  than  a  few  dilapidated 
fountains  in  an  ugly,  gnarled  wood,  destitute  of  a  single 
ornament  or  walk  that  was  safe  for  a  foot  passenger 
The  Empress  determined  to  remedy  this,  and  ordered 
the  grounds  to  be  put  in  complete  order,  paying  the 


MEXICO     UXDKR    MAXIMILIAN.  121 

expenses  out  of  her  private  purse.  The  fountains  have 
been  repaired,  the  pavements  relaid,  trees  pruned  and 
trimmed,  and  the  ei>tire  ground  decorated  with  plants, 
flowers,  and  trees,  until  a  more  lovely  silvan  spot  can 
scarce  be  imagined.  Thousands  of  citizens  resort  here 
every  morning  for  health  or  recreation,  and  what  was  a 
few  months  since  carefully  avoided  has  become  the 
fashionable  promenade  and  morning  drive  for  all  classes 
of  Mexicans.  The  Plaza  which,  three  months  since, 
was  merely  a  bare  paved  square,  destitute  of  ornament, 
is  fast  assuming  a  new  aspect.  The  whole  pavement 
has  been  taken  up,  new  walks  laid,  the  spaces  between 
the  walks  filled  with  trees,  flowers,  and  shrubbery,  foun 
tains  erected,  and  in  the  centre  is  to  be  placed  a  group 
of  statuary,  representing  the  leading  spirits  of  the  Mex 
ican  revolution — all  the  design  and  work  of  Mexican 
artists." 

In  order  to  afford  encouragement  and  give  an  im 
pulse  to  dramatic  art,  the  Emperor  has  commenced 
the  erection  of  a  superb  theatre,  and  has  offered  two 
prizes,  of  two  thousand  dollars  each,  for  the  best 
tragedy  and  comedy.  lie  is  truly  a  man  of  noble 
impulses,  and  has  the  good  of  his  people  at  heart. 
His  ambition  is  to  make  Mexico  a  power  upon  the 
"Western  continent  second  only  to  the  United  States, 
and  to  leave  behind  him  the  name  of  a  human  bene 
factor. 

The  Catholic  religion  is  the  religion  of  the  State, 
but  all  religions  are  tolerated.  Every  one  in  Mexico 


122  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

can  freely  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
own  conscience.  The  Episcopalian,  the  Presbyterian, 
and  the  Methodist  is  equally  protected  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  his  religion  with  the  Catholic ;  and  the  minis 
ters  there  are  not  required  to  take  "  test  oaths"  before 
they  can  preach  the  gospel. 

The  administration  of  justice  throughout  the  em 
pire  is  provided  for  by  the  Emperor  with  peculiar 
care.  The  judges  of  the  courts  are  required  to  be 
men  learned  in  the  law,  experienced  in  the  manage 
ment  of  causes,  and  of  unblemished  integrity.  Where- 
ever  the  authority  of  the  empire  extends,  justice  be 
tween  man  and  man  is  speedily  administered,  and  no 
man's  cause  is  delayed.  Such  a  state  of  things  has 
heretofore  been  unknown  in  Mexico,  under  any  repub 
lican  government. 

Every  encouragement  has  been  afforded  by  the 
Emperor  to  the  great  work  of  the  codification  and  sys 
tematic  arrangement  of  the  Mexican  laws.  This  work 
has  been  accomplished  by  a  board  of  the  most  learned 
Mexican  lawyers,  and  is  now  complete.  The  entire 
code  forms  a  body  of  ten  large  octavo  volumes,  which 
have  recently  been  printed,  published,  and  bound,  in 
the  city  of  Mexico.  The  paper,  typography,  and  bind 
ing  of  these  volumes  are  in  the  first  style  of  art,  and 
would  do  credit  to  any  publishing  house  in  New 
York  or  Philadelphia.  This  code  of  laws  embraces 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  123 

first,  all  the  Mexican  laws  of  a  public  and  general 
nature,  which  were  in  force  at  the  time  when  the  pre 
sent  government  was  established;  and  second,  those 
that  have  been  subsequently  enacted  by  the  authority 
of  the  imperial  government.  The  whole  body  of  laws 
is  said  to  be  based  upon  the  plan  of  the  Code  Napo 
leon,  and  to  possess  many  of  the  merits  of  that  incom 
parable  work. 

There  is  a  deep  significance  in  the  emission  of  these 
handsome  volumes.  They  represent  the  energy  and 
intellect  which  Maximilian  has  infused  into  the  ad 
ministration  of  the  laws  of  Mexico.  These  decrees  and 
laws,  particularly  those  enacted  during  the  last  two 
years,  are  replete  with  the  wise  forethought  and  intel 
ligent  progress  of  the  empire.  And  they  are  not 
merely  laws  on  paper.  They  have  been  put  in  execu 
tion,  and  their  good  effects  have  been  felt  in  every 
department  of  the  government,  and  reach  to  every 
Mexican  State.  Everything,  it  would  seem,  has  been 
remodelled  by  those  laws,  and  placed  upon  a  better 
basis.  Whoever  would  know  the  spirit  and  stamina 
of  the  imperial  government,  should  consult  these  vol 
umes.  Their  contents  embrace  every  subject,  and 
reveal  the  industry,  the  tact,  and  the  remarkable  abil 
ity  of  their  author;  for  the  Emperor  Maximilian  is 
the  originator  of  nearly  every  one  of  the  recent  laws. 
Here  may  be  found  the  organic  law  of  the  empire,  to 


124  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

the  strict  observance  of  which  Maximilian  has  pledged 
himself.* 

"While  upon  the  subject  of  book  publications,  it 
may  be  stated  that  this  is  a  branch  of  business  that 
has  grown  up  entirely  during  the  last  three  years. 
There  are  two  houses  in  the  city  of  Mexico  that  have 
found  encouragement  enough  to  warrant  them  in  pub 
lishing  school-books  and  literary  works  to  a  consider 
able  extent.  Among  their  recent  publications  are  the 
complete  works  of  the  celebrated  Spanish  author, 
Gonzales  ;  among  them,  "  El  Pastero  de  Madriga,"  and 
"Lucrezia  Borgia."  Also  an  excellent  translation,  in 
Spanish,  by  a  Mexican  gentleman,  of  Victor  Hugo's 
" Travailleurs  de  la  Mer,"  under  the  title  of  "Los 
Trabajadores  de  la  Mar,"  which  is  a  little  nearer  the 
original  than  "  Toilers  of  the  Sea." 

Allusion  has  heretofore  been  made  to  the  very  great 
assistance  which  Maximilian  has  derived  from  the  de 
voted  and  zealous  co-operation  of  his  wife,  the  Empress 
Carlotta.  This  admirable  lady,  tenderly  nurtured,  and 
accustomed  all  her  life  to  the  perfumed  air  of  courts 
and  the  luxuries  of  royalty,  devoted  herself  at  once, 
with  all  the  energy  of  her  nature,  to  the  great  work  in 
which  her  honored  husband  was  engaged.  She  accom 
panied  him  everywhere;  saw  with  her  own  eyes  the 
wants  of  the  people ;  alleviated  suffering  and  distress 

*  Letter  to  "New  York  News." 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  125 

wherever  she  encountered  it ;  encouraged  industry  by 
her  smiles ;  stimulated  the  children  and  youth  to 
assiduity  in  their  studies  by  her  frequent  presence  in 
the  school-houses ;  and  quickened  the  genius  of  Mex 
ican  artists  and  men  of  letters,  by  her  munificent  re 
wards  for  their  works. 

In  November,  1865,  she  undertook  a  journey  to  the 
distant  State  of  Yucatan,  that  the  people  there  might 
see  that  their  welfare  was  not  overlooked  by  the  Em 
peror.  Everywhere  she  was  received  with  the  most 
enthusiastic  expressions  of  the  love  and  devotion  of 
the  people. 

While  at  Merida  her  majesty  donated  the  following- 
sums  :  two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  free  school  for  girls  in  that  city ;  three 
thousand  dollars  to  the  general  hospital ;  three  thou 
sand  dollars  to  be  distributed  among  the  poor,  in 
especial  to  such  as  had  suffered  by  the  war  of  castes ; 
one  thousand  dollars  toward  completing  the  work  on 
the  cathedral,  and  smaller  sums  to  various  religious 
orders. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  the  Empress  visited  the 
Agricultural  and  Industrial  Exhibition,  and  the  fol 
lowing  day  she  was  present  at  the  benediction  and 
inauguration  of  the  "Constancia"  cotton  spinning 
establishment. 

Her  majesty  left  Merida  on  the  morning  of  Decem 
ber  -1th,  fur  the  city  of  Campeche,  passing  through 


126  MEXICO    teDER     MAXIMILIAN. 


Uxmal.  A  large  nuniber  of  the  young  men  of  Merida 
volunteered  to  attend  {he  Empress  as  far  as  the  limits 
of  the  department  as  a  guard  of  honor. 

A  letter  from  Merida,  the  capital  of  Yucatan,  thus 
describes  the  reception  of  the  Empress  at  that  ancient 
city: 

"  Her  majesty  was  elegantly  but  simply  attired,  wear 
ing  a  white  dress  trimmed  with  light  blue,  her  noble 
head  being  covered  with  a  graceful  little  hat,  also  set 
off  with  blue.  Not  a  gem  or  jewel  was  to  be  seen  upon 
her  graceful  person.  At  the  back  of  her  head,  beneath 
the  little  hat,  her  well  combed  auburn  hair  was  noticeable. 

"After  receiving  the  congratulations  of  the  delegations 
mentioned,  her  majesty  advanced  into  the  city,  in  the 
midst  of  the  liveliest  acclamations,  the  cortege  being 
swelled  by  various  deputations  and  by  a  large  num 
ber  of  distinguished  persons  following  in  sumptuous 
carriages  of  various  colors. 

"  It  would  take  much  space  to  describe  the  order  of 
the  carriages  in  the  procession,  the  innumerable  shouts 
of  welcome  resounding  in  the  air,  and  the  cordial  greet 
ings  uttered  by  the  dense  multitude,  right  and  left, 
during  the  passing  of  the  imperial  cortege  at  a  foot  pace 
from  the  first  triumphal  arch  to  the  Plaza  de  Jesus. 

"  There  her  majesty  alighted  from  her  carnage,  and 
was  received  by  another  delegation  of  ladies  and  an 
angelic  bevy  of  little  children. 

"  While  passing  by  the  Government  Palace  a  shower 
of  natural  and  artificial  flowers,  of  ribbons,  bearing 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN".  127 

appropriate  mottoes,  and  of  strips  of  paper  printed 
with  verses,  almost  inundated  our  august  Empress. 

"  From  the  base  of  the  arch  to  the  main  entrance  to 
the  cathedral  her  majesty  passed  between  a  double  line 
formed  by  the  chief  local  authorities,  presided  over  by 
the  Political  Prefect,  Senor  Don  Jose  Garcia  Morales. 

"  His  Excellency  Don  Jose  Salazar  Harrequi,  the 
Imperial  Commissioner,  and  General  Severo  del  Cas 
tillo,  commanding  the  Seventh  provincial  division, 
accompanied  her  majesty,  together  with  the  other 
persons  of  the  court  in  her  suite. 

"  The  military  were  dressed  in  full  uniform. 

"At  about  eleven  o'clock  her  majesty  was  received 
upon  the  steps  of  the  porch  of  the  temple  by  the 
apostolic  administrator  of  the  diocese,  Dr.  Leandro 
Rodriguez  de  la  Salu,  the  venerable  ecclesiastical 
chapter,  and  all  the  clergy  of  the  capital,  in  their 
splendid  vestments,  preceded  by  the  Cross  and  a 
number  of  wax  tapers. 

"  Kneeling  upon  a  crimson  velvet  cushion  bordered 
with  gold  fringe  and  placed  upon  a  rich  carpet,  her 
majesty  kissed  the  holy  crucifix  presented  to  her  and 
entered  the  edifice  under  a  canopy,  the  poles  support 
ing  which  were  borne  by  the  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court  and  the  members  of  the  government  council  of 
the  district.  Upon  entering  the  precincts  of  the  temple 
her  majesty  devoutly  received  the  holy  water  offered 
her. 

"  In  the  chancel  a  rich  canopy  was  prepared,  and 
after  the  prayers  customary  upon  the  reception  of 


128  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

sovereigns  and  a  chant  accompanied  by  the  solemn 
music  of  the  organ,  worship  was  offered  to  Him  through 
Whose  will  all  sovereigns  reign,  during  which  the  Em 
press  remained  kneeling  in  a  most  devout  attitude.  k 

"  Thereafter  a  solemn  Te  Deum,  expressly  composed 
for  the  occasion,  was  performed. 

"  The  vast  cathedral  was  filled  with  a  numerous  as 
semblage,  comprising  persons  belonging  to  the  highest 
as  well  as  the  lowest  degrees  of  society,  collected  to 
gether  to  bless  and  welcome  our  august  sovereign. 

"  Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  religious  ceremonies 
her  majesty  proceeded  on  foot  (dismissing  the  carriage 
which  awaited  her  at  the  foot  of  the  steps)  to  the  resi 
dence  placed  at  her  disposal — one  of  the  most  elegant 
and  capacious  mansions  in  the  city. 
^  "  Shortly  after  noon  her  majesty  reached  her  quar 
ters,  where  she  was  greeted  with  another  shower  of 
flowers,  ribbons  and  verses,  accompanied  by  the  ex 
quisite  music  of  a  military  band  and  the  joyful  shouts 
of  thousands  of  both  sexes. 

"A  just  tribute  to  her  merit,  virtue,  beauty  and 
goodness  of  heart. 

"•  Shortly  afterward  her  majesty  received  the  con 
gratulations  of  the  officials  of  the  district,  in  an  apart 
ment  specially  arranged  for  the  purpose,  after  which  a 
large  number  of  ladies,  military  and  civil  officers  and 
citizens  paid  their  respects  to  the  Empress. 

"  In  reply  to  the  congratulatory  address  delivered  by 
the  Political  Prefect,  her  majesty,  after  appearing  on 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  129 

the  balcony  of  her  apartments  at  the  clamorous  request 
of  the  multitude  without,  expressed  herself  as  follows  : — 

"  l  We  have  long  wished  to  visit  you  in  order  to  study 
your  necessities  and  learn  your  desires.  The  Emperor 
being  prevented  from  effecting  this  important  object, 
has  sent  me  to  you  to  present  to  you  his  cordial 
greetings. 

"  '  I  assure  you  from  my  heart  that  he  deeply  regrets 
that  he  cannot  be  here  with  me,  to  tell  you  how  great 
is  his  affection  toward  you.  He  will  regret  it  still 
more  when  I  inform  him  of  the  enthusiastic  reception 
you  have  given  me.  He  desires,  and  by  all  means  will 
endeavor  to  secure,  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
people  of  Yucatan."3 

We  shall  soon  see  the  Empress  discharging  a 
mission,  of  still  greater  importance,  for  the  welfare  of 
Mexico. 


9 


130  MEXICO    UNDKR    MAXIMILIAN. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Arms  and  Ammunition  Shipped  to  the  Mexican  Liberals  from  New  York 
— The  Steamer  Everman — Attempts  of  the  Radicals  in  Congress  to  Loan 
Thirty  Millions  of  Government  Funds  to  Juarez — Measures  Taken  by 
Maximilian  to  Supply  the  Place  of  the  French  Troops — The  Emperor 
Anticipates  Intervention  by  the  United  States  in  Favor  of  Juarez — 
Mission  of  the  Empress  Carlotta  to  Europe — Sickness  of  the  Empress — 
Embarrassing  Situation  of  Affairs  in  Mexico — Outrages  of  the  Mexican 
Liberals — Sickness  of  the  Emperor — lie  Retires  to  Orizaba — The  Sher 
man  and  Campbell  Mission  to  Mexico — Mr.  Campbell's  Instructions — • 
Utter  Failure  of  the  Mission — Results  of  the  Mission — It  Demonstrated 
the  Attachment  of  the  Mexican  People  to  Maximilian — The  Question  of 
Abdication  Presented  to  Maximilian — He  Refuses  to  Abdicate — Generous 
Conduct  of  the  Clergy  and  Merchants — Encouraging  Prospects  of  the 
Empire. 

THE  objection  that  is  most  easily  and  most  fre 
quently  raised  against  the  government  of  Maximilian, 
is,  that  it  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  conquering  the 
prejudices  of  all  the  Mexicans,  and  that  the  republi 
cans  in  Mexico  still  keep  troops  in  the  field,  and  even 
gain  some  victories  over  the  imperial  troops.  This  is 
true,  to  some  extent ;  and  the  explanation  of  the  fact 
is  by  no  means  creditable  to  the  United  States.  These 
"liberal  successes"  have  all  taken  place  during  the 
last  few  months,  and  are  the  result  of  direct  interfer 
ence  in  behalf  of  Juarez  on  the  part  of  citizens  of 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  131 

the  United  States.  Armed  expeditions  were  fitted 
out  in  New  York,  and  cargo  after  cargo  of  arms  and 
ammunition  was  sent  to  Mexico.  It  is  believed  that 
one  of  these  expeditions  was  under  the  command  of 
a  major-general  late  of  the  United  States  army,  whose 
gallant  and  intrepid  conduct,  and  admirable  dispo 
sitions  at  Monocacy,  saved  Washington  from  capture 
by  the  Confederates,  and  who  is  now  understood  to 
be  following  the  fortunes  of  Juarez. 

But  it  is  not  material  aid,  alone,  that  the  Juarists 
have  derived  from  the  United  States.  During  the 
first  session  of  the  thirty-ninth  Congress,  beginning 
in  December,  1865,  persistent  and  strenuous  efforts 
were  made  by  Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Mr.  Schenck, 
and  other  leading  radical  republicans,  to  induce  Con 
gress  to  appropriate  thirty  millions  of  dollars  for  the 
cause  of  the  Mexican  republic — or,  in  other  words, 
to  authorize  the  government  to  endorse  certain  Jua- 
rist  bonds  to  that  amount.  These  bonds  were  utterly 
worthless,  and  the  endorser,  of  course,  would  be 
called  upon  to  pay  them.  The  scheme  never  received 
the  approval  of  Congress.  But  its  agitation,  both  in 
Congress  and  in  the  newspapers  of  the  north,  served 
the  purpose  for  which  the  friends  of  the  Juarists 
had  introduced  it.  Juarez  himself,  and  his  followers 
in  Mexico,  are  thus  encouraged  to  hope  that  the  Uni 
ted  States  government  will,  at  some  period  not  very 
distant,  intervene  in  their  behalf,  and  by  actual  armed 


132  MEXICO     U-NDElt     MAXIMILIAN. 

interposition,  as  well  as  by  the  advances  of  large 
sums  of  money,  assist  them  in  overthrowing  the  pre 
sent  government  of  Mexico,  and  in  re-establishing 
the  republic.  These  hopes  have  been  greatly  cher 
ished  and  strengthened,  1st,  by  the  extraordinary 
conduct  of  General  Sheridan  on  the  Kio  Grande,  in 
the  interests  of  Juarez :  and  2d,  by  the  recent 
mission  of  General  Sherman  and  Mr.  Campbell  to 
Yera  Cruz.  Stimulated  by  the  hopes  thus  afforded, 
Juarez  and  his  officers  have  succeeded  in  keeping 
in  the  field  a  force  of  a  few  thousand  men,  with 
whom  the  recent  "liberal  successes"  have  been 
achieved.  These  men  are  the  most  reckless  and 
desperate  characters  that  can  be  found  in  Mexi 
co  ;  robbers,  thieves,  murderers  and  assassins.  Al 
most  every  paper  that  comes  from  Mexico,  is  filled 
with  the  records  of  their  atrocities.  They  are  allowed 
the  utmost  license  to  plunder  the  inhabitants,  and 
whenever  they  capture  a  town  or  village,  it  is  given 
up  to  their  unlicensed  rapacity.  The  outrages  which 
they  thus  committed  at  Hermosillo,  a  few  months 
since,  are  already  fresh  in  the  public  mind.  Such 
are  the  "soldiers  of  the  republic,"  in  behalf  of  whom 
the  sympathies  of  the  American  people  are  invoked. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1866,  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  was  made  aware  of  the  determination  of 
the  French  government  to  withdraw  the  French 
troops  from  Mexico  during  the  course  of  the  year 


MEXICO    UXDKR     MAXIMILIAN.  133 

18G7.  This  event,  however,  had  been  anticipated 
by  Maximilian,  and  already  measures  were  in  pro 
gress  by  which  the  Kmperor  hoped  to  supply  the 
places  of  the  French  troops  by  an  army  winch  should 
be  essentially  Mexican — a  national  Mexican  army. 
The  arrangements  for  the  organization  of  this  army 
proceeded  during  the  whole  of  the  year  1800.  By  the 
end  of  that  year  there  were  organized  into  regiments 
twenty-six  thousand  native  Mexicans,  all  good  soldiers, 
well  disciplined,  and  acquainted  with  military  life  and 
duties.  These  were  divided  into  four  divisions,  and 
each  division  placed  under  the  command  of  a  compe 
tent  general.  The  principal  officers  of  the  regiments 
were  for  the  most  part  Frenchmen  ami  Austrians ;  but 
in  the  grade  of  captains  and  lieutenants  there  were 
nany  Mexican  gentlemen.  Although  the  French 
army,  as  an  organization,  was  to  be  withdrawn,  yet  the 
Emperor  Napoleon  had  given  permission  to  all  the 
officers  and  men  wrho  chose  to  do  so,  to  volunteer  and 
enter  the  Mexican  army,  and  up  to  the  end  of  the 
3'ear  1866,  about  eight  thousand  men  had  signified 
their  intention  to  do  so :  so  that  Maximilian  counted 
upon  having  an  effective  army  of  thirty-five  thousand 
men,  ready  to  take  the  field  by  the  spring  of  1867,  if 
the  French  troops  should  be  withdrawn  as  soon  as  that. 
It  became  a  very  serious  question,  however,  whether 
the  Mexican  government  could  maintain  itself,  after 
the  departure  of  the  French  army.  There  was  no 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

doubt  of  the  efficiency  of  the  newly  organized  Mexi 
can  army ;  there  was  no  doubt  of  the  attachment  of 
the  great  body  of  the  Mexican  people  to  Maximilian 
and  his  government.  If  left  alone,  without  interfer 
ence  from  abroad,  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  govern 
ment  could  maintain  itself  without  serious  difficulty. 
But  there  was  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  interfer 
ence  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  was  to  be  ex-  i 
pected,  as  soon  as  the  French  troops  should  have  left  I 
Mexico.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  had,  indeed,  before  i 
he  had  made  the  final  arrangements  for  the  withdraw 
al  of  the  French  troops  from  Mexico,  inquired  of  the 
United  States  government  whether,  in  case  of  such 
withdrawal,  neutrality  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  to- 
ward  Mexico,  would  be  observed :  and  Mr.  Sewird^ 
Secretary  of  State,  had  replied  in  plain  words,  that,  in 
case  the  French  troops  should  be  withdrawn  from 
Mexico,  the  United  States  would  observe  absolute  neu 
trality  toward  that  country,  and  would  allow  the  Mexi 
can  people  to  settle  for  themselves,  the  form  of  their 
government.  But  the  Emperor  Maximilian  placed  very 
little  reliance  upon  this  promise ;  and  he  anticipated 
that  active  interference  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  in  favor  of  the  Juarist  faction,  might  be  ex 
pected  the  moment  after  the  French  army  should 
have  embarked.  The  event  showed  that  these  antici 
pations  were  well  founded. 

There  were  other  weighty  questions  connected  with 


. 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  135 

the  future  stability  of  the  empire,  that  gave  Maximil 
ian  much  concern  ;  and  it  was  finally  agreed,  in  the 
summer  of  1866,  that  the  Empress  Carlotta  should 
herself  proceed  to  Europe,  in  order  that,  by  personal 
interviews  with  the  Emperor  of  France  and  the  Em 
peror  of  Austria,  these  questions  might  be  placed  upon 
a  basis  of  satisfactory  settlement.  This  journey  was 
accordingly  undertaken.  The  Empress  embarked  on 
board  the  French  mail  steamer  "  Empress  Eugenia," 
on  the  13th  of  July,  and  in  due  time  reached  Paris. 
In  the  course  of  three  months,  the  main  objects  of  her 
mission  to  Europe  had  been  successfully  accomplished. 
Her  last  letter  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian  stated  in 
substance,  that  although  every  thing  they  had  hoped 
for  had  not  been  gained,  yet  that  the  results  that  she 
had  accomplished  were  quite  sufficient  to  compensate 
her  for  all  that  she  had  undergone  since  she  had  left 
Mexico. 

The  fatigues  of  the  voyage,  however,  in  the  hot 
summer,  and  the  excessive  labors  which  she  felt  it 
necessary  to  impose  upon  herself,  were  too  much  for 
the  delicate  organization  of  the  Empress.  She  bore 
up  under  her  sufferings  with  extraordinary  fortitude, 
as  long  as  any  portion  of  the  work,  to  which  she  had 
devoted  herself,  remained  undone.  But  when  she  had 
accomplished  her  task,  her  energies  gave  way,  and 
she  was  prostrated  by  a  severe  attack  of  sickncs?.  In 
spite  of  all  the  care  of  her  relatives  and  friends,  this 


136  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN". 

illness  rapidly  assumed  an  alarming  character,  and 
finally  developed  itself  in  brain  fever  of  the  most  dan 
gerous  type.  The  highest  medical  talent  in  Europe 
was  at  once  placed  at  her  service,  but  for  many  weeks 
her  life  was  despaired  of.  A  merciful  Providence 
however,  watched  over  her,  and  at  last  Jier.  health  wag 
entirely  restored.  .-'••• 

In  the  meantime  the  situation  in  Mexico  was 
becoming  every  month  more  embarrassing.  In  pur 
suance  of  the  agreement  made  between  the  French 
government  and  the  United  States,  the  actual  arrange 
ments  in  Mexico,  for  the  evacuation  of  Mexico  by 
the  French  troops,  were  steadily  progressing.  Large 
bodies  of  French  troops  were  withdrawn  from  distant 
points  in  the  north  and  west  of  Mexico,  and  were 
concentrated  at  the  capital,  preparatory  to  marching 
to  Vera  Cruz,  the  point  of  embarkation.  This  left 
the  States  of  Sonora,  Chihuahua,  Sinaloa,  Durango, 
Coahuila,  and  part  of  New  Leon,  exposed  to  the 
incursions  of  the  republican  forces,  whose  ranks  were 
in  many  cases  augmented  by  bands  of  guerillas  who 
joined  them  for  the  sake  of  the  plunder  of  towns  and 
villages.  It  would  require  a  volume  to  relate  the 
atrocities  committed  by  these  republican  troops,  at 
Hermosillo,  at  Ures,  at  Lajunta,  at  Sinoloa  at  Cosala, 
at  Matamoras,  at  Mazatlan,  and  at  dozens  of  smaller 
towns.  Scarcely  had  the  French  troops  been  with 
drawn  from  any  place,  before  it  would  be  entered  by 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  137 

these  Juarist  troops,  who,  after  first  levying  a  forced 
contribution  on  the  inhabitants,  would  then  proceed 
to  rob  and  plunder  indiscriminately,  and  too  often 
would  indulge  in  outrages  too  gross  for  description. 

It  was  at  this  critical  juncture  that  the  health  of  the 
Emperor  gave  way.  His  labors,  for  months  past,  had 
been  excessive.  His  anxieties  for  the  State  had  been 
very  great.  And  now,  when  he  most  needed  the 
presence  and  smiles  of  his  beloved  wife,  came  the 
crushing  news  of  her  dangerous  illness.  His  first 
impulse,  as  a  man  and  a  husband,  was  to  fly  to  her 
side.  But  when  he  understood  the  nature  of  her  dis 
tressing  malady,  and  that  absolute  quiet  was  essential 
to  her  recovery,  he  abandoned  that  idea.  And  this 
he  did  the  more  willingly,  as  he  had  full  confidence 
in  the  skilful  physicians  by  whom  the  Empress  was 
attended ;  a  confidence  which  the  event  has  proved, 
was  well  founded.  .  On  the  other  hand,  his  duties  as  a 
sovereign,  and  the  critical  nature  of  the  situation,  ab 
solutely  required  that  he  should  remain  in  Mexico, 
at  whatever  sacrifice  of  his  personal  feelings.  He 
bent  all  his  energies,  therefore,  to  the  task  before 
him.  But  his  anxieties,  his  labors,  and  his  cares, 
were  too  much  even  for  the  strongest  constitution, 
and  in  October  he  was  prostrated  by  a  severe  attack 
of  fever.  In  November,  when  he  had  partially  recov 
ered,  but  while  he  was  still  very  weak,  he  left  the 
capital  for  a  few  days,  and  retired  to  Orizaba,  where 


138  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

the  air  is  pure  and  bracing,  and  where,  the  physi 
cians  thought,  he  might  most  speedily  recover  his 
strength.  It  was  while  he  was  at  Orizaba,  that  the 
United  States  steamer  Susquehanna  arrived  off  Vera 
Cruz,  with  General  Sherman  and  Mr.  Campbell  on 
board;  and  their  mission  to  Mexico  must  now  be 
explained. 

The  sending  of  General  Sherman  and  Mr.  Camp 
bell  to  Yera  Cruz,  was  unquestionably  one  of  the 
greatest  blunders  in  the  history  of  modern  diplomacy. 
Nothing  was  accomplished  by  the  extraordinary  step, 
except  to  place  the  United  States  in  a  ridiculous  atti 
tude  before  the  world.  The  objects  which  Mr.  Sew- 
ard  seems  to  have  had  in  view  were,  1st,  to  afford 
direct  aid  and  encouragement  to  the  Juarist  party, 
which,  of  itself,  would  have  been  in  violation  of  our 
pledge  of  neutrality ;  and,  2d,  that  General  Sherman's 
presence  at  Yera  Cruz  might  overawe  the  French 
officers  in  command,  and  cause  them  to  hasten  the 
embarkation  of  the  French  troops,  under  the  guns  of 
the  frigate  Susquehanna.  The  event  shows  that  Gen 
eral  Sherman's  presence  at  Yera  Cruz  had  just  the 
contrary  effect. 

General  Sherman  and  Mr.  Campbell  were  sent  to 
Yera  Cruz  under  a  misapprehension  of  existing  facts 
which  seems  almost  incredible.  The  situation  in 
Mexico  must  have  been  perfectly  well  known  to  Mr. 
Seward,  and  yet  his  action  seems  to  have  been  based 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  139 

upon  two  delusions :  1st,  that  General  Sherman's 
presence  at  Yera  Cruz  would  scare  away  the  French; 
and  2d,  that  the  empire  and  the  present  government 
of  Mexico  would  fall,  and  the  republic  be  restored  in 
Mexico,  immediately  on  the  departure  of  the  French 
troops. 

Mr.  Seward's  instructions  to  Mr.  Campbell  were  as 
follow  : 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,    ") 

"WASHINGTON,    Oct.  20,   1866.) 

"  SIR. — You  are  aware  that  a  friendly  and  explicit  ar 
rangement  exists  between  this  government  and  the  Em 
peror  of  France,  to  the  effect  that  he  will  withdraw  his 
expeditionary  niilitaiy  forces  from  Mexico  in  three 
parts — the  first  of  which  shall  leave  Mexico  in  Novem 
ber  next,  the  second  in  March  next  and  the  third  in 
November,  1867,  and  that  upon  the  evacuation  being 
thus  completed  the  French  Government  will  immediate 
ly  come  upon  the  ground  of  non-intervention  in  regard 
to  Mexico  which  is  held  by  the  United  States.  Doubts 
have  been  entertained  and  expressed  in  some  quarters 
upon  the  question  whether  the  French  government  will 
faithfully  execute  this  agreement.  No  such  doubts 
have  been  entertained  by  the  President,  who  has  had 
repeated  and  even  recent  assurances  that  the  complete 
evacuation  of  Mexico  by  the  French  will  be  consum 
mated  at  the  periods  mentioned,  or  earlier  if  compatible 
with  climatical,  military  and  other  conditions.  There 
are  grounds  for  supposing  that  two  incidental  ques- 


140  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

tions  have  already  engaged  the  attention  of  the  French 
government — namely,  first,  whether  it  should  not  ad-\ 
vise  the  departure  of  the  Prince  Maximilian  for  Austria  / 
to  be  made  before  the  withdrawal  of  the  French  expedi* 
tion  ;  second,  whether  it  would  not  be  consistent  with 
the  elimatical,  military  and  other  conditions  before 
mentioned,  to  withdraw  the  whole  expeditionary  force  at 
once,  instead  of  retiring  it  in  three  separate  instal 
ments,  and  at  different  periods.  No  formal  communi 
cation,  however,  upon  this  subject  has  been  made  by 
the  Emperor  Napoleon  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  When  the  subject  has  been  incidentally  men 
tioned,  this  department,  by  direction  of  the  President, 
has  replied  that  the  United  States  await  the  execution 
of  the  agreement  for  the  evacuation  by  the  government 
of  France  at  least  according  to  its  letter,  while  they 
would  be  gratified  if  that  agreement  could  be  executed 
with  greater  promptness  and  dispatch  than  are  stipu 
lated.  Under  these  circumstances  the  President  ex 
pects  that  within  the  next  month  (November)  a  portion 
at  least  of  the  French  expeditionary  force  will  retire 
from  Mexico,  and  he  thinks  it  not  improbable  that  the 
whole  expeditionary  force  may  be  withdrawn  at  or 
about  the  same  time.  Such  an  event  cannot  fail  to  pro 
duce  a  crisis  of  great  political  interest  in  the  republic 
of  Mexico.  It  is  important  that  you  should  be  either 
within  the  territories  of  that  republic  or  in  some  place 
near  at  hand,  so  as  to  assume  the  exercise  of  your  func 
tions  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States 
to  the  republic  of  Mexico.  What  may  be  the  proceed- 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  141 

ings  of  the  Prince  Maximilian  in  the  event  of  a  partial 
or  complete  evacuation  of  Mexico,  of  course  cannot 
now  be  certainly  foreseen.  "What  may  be  the  proceed 
ings  of  Mr.  Juarez,  the  President  of  the  republic  of 
Mexico,  in  the  same  event,  cannot  now  be  definitely 
anticipated.  We  are  aware  of  the  existence  of  several 
political  parties  in  Mexico  other  than  those  at  the  head 
of  which  are  President  Juarez  and  Prince  Maximilian, 
who  entertain  conflicting  views  concerning  the  most  ex 
pedient  and  proper  mode  of  restoring  peace,  order,  and 
civil  government  in  that  republic.  We  do  not  know 
what  may  be  the  proceedings  of  those  parties  in  the 
event  of  the  French  evacuation.  Finalh*,  it  is  impos 
sible  for  us  to  foresee  what  may  be  the  proceedings  of 
the  Mexican  people  in  case  of  the  happening  of  the 
events  before  alluded  to.  For  these  reasons  it  is  im 
possible  to  give  you  specific  directions  for  the  conduct 
of  your  proceedings  in  the  discharge  of  the  high  trust 
which  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  con 
fided  to  you.  Much  must  be  left  to  your  own  discre 
tion,  which  is  to  be  exercised  according  to  the  view  you 
may  take  of  political  movements  as  they  shall  disclose 
themselves  in  the  future.  There  are,  however,  some 
principles  which,  as  we  think,  may  be  safely  laid  down 
in  regard  to  the  policy  which  the  government  of  the 
United  States  will  expect  3-011  to  pursue.  The  first  of 
these  is  that,  as  a  representative  of  the  United  States, 
you  are  accredited  to  the  republican  government  of 
Mexico,  of  which  Mr.  Juarez  is  President.  Your  com 
munications  as  such  representative  will  be  made  to  him, 


142  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

wheresoever  he  may  be,  and  in  no  event  will  you  offi- 
c'al'.y  recognize  either  the  Prince  Maximilian,  who 
claims  to  be  Emperor,  or  any  other  person,  chief,  or 
combination,  as  exercising  the  executive  authority  in 
Mexico,  without  having  first  reported  to  this  depart 
ment,  and  received  instructions  from  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  Secondly,  assuming  that  the 
French  militaiy  and  naval  commanders  shall  be  en 
gaged  in  good  faith  in  executing  the  agreement  before 
mentioned  for  the  evacuation  of  Mexico,  the  spirit  of 
the  engagement  on  our  part  in  relation  to  that  event 
will  forbid  the  United  States  and  their  representative 
from  obstructing  or  embarrassing  the  departure  of  the 
French.  Thirdly,  what  the  government  of  the  United 
States  desires  in  regard  to  the  future  of  Mexico  is  not 
the  conquest  of  Mexico,  or  any  part  of  it,  or  the  aggran 
dizement  of  the  United  States  by  purchases  of  land  or 
dominion,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  desire  to  see  the 
people  of  Mexico  relieved  from  all  foreign  military  in 
tervention,  to  the  end  that  they  may  resume  the  con- 
duct  of  their  own  affairs  under  the  existing  republican 
government,  or  such  other  form  of  government  as, 
being  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  liberty,  they 
shall  determine  to  adopt  in  the  exercise  of  their  own 
free  will,  by  their  own  act,  without  dictation  from  any 
foreign  country,  and  of  course  without  dictation  from 
the  United  States.  It  results,  as  a  consequence  from 
these  principles,  that  you  will  enter  into  no  stipulation 
with  the  French  commanders,  or  with  the  Prince  Maxi- 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  143 

milian,  or  with  any  other  part}',  which  shall  have  a  ten 
dency  to  counteract  or  oppose  the  administration  of 
President  Juarez,  or  to  hinder  or  delay  the  restoration 
of  the  authority  of  the  republic.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  may  possibly  happen  that  the  President  of  the  repub 
lic  of  Mexico  may  desire  the  good  olliccs  of  the  United 
States,  or  even  some  effective  proceedings  on  our  part, 
to  favor  and  advance  the  pacification  of  a  country  so 
long  distracted  by  foreign  combined  with  civil  war,  and 
thus  gain  time  for  the  re-establishment  of  national  au 
thority  upon  principles  consistent  with  a  republican  and 
domestic  system  of  government.  It  is  possible,  more 
over,  that  some  disposition  might  be  made  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces  of  the  United  States  without  interfer 
ing  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Mexico,  or  violating  the 
laws  of  neutrality,  which  would  be  useful  in  favoring 
the  restoration  of  law,  order,  and  republican  govern 
ment  in  that  country.  Yon  are  authorized  to  confer 
upon  this  subject  with  the  republican  government  of 
Mexico  and  its  agents,  and  also  to  confer  informally,  if 
you  find  it  necessary,  with  any  other  parties  or  agents, 
should  such  an  exceptional  conference  become  absolute 
ly  necessaiy,  but  not  otherwise.  You  will  ly  these 
means  obtain  information  which  will  be  important  to 
this  government,  and  such  information  3-011  will  convey 
to  this  department,  with  your  suggestions  and  advice 
as  to  any  proceedings  on  our  part  which  can  be  adopted 
in  conformity  wTith  the  principles  I  have  before  laid 
down.  You  will  be  content  with  thus  referring  any  im- 


144  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

portant  propositions  on  the  subject  of  reorganization 
and  restoration  of  the  republican  government  in  Mex 
ico  as  may  arise  to  this  department,  for  the  information 
of  the  President.  The  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
United  States  possesses  already  discretionary  author 
ity  as  to  the  location  of  the  forces  of  the  United  States 
in  the  vicinity  of  Mexico.  His  military  experience  will 
enable  him  to  advise  you  concerning  such  questions  as 
majr  arise  during  the  transition  stage  of  Mexico  from  a 
state  of  military  siege  by  a  foreign  enemy  to  a  condi 
tion  of  practical  self-government.  At  the  same  time  it 
will  be  in  his  power,  being  near  the  scene  of  action,  to 
issue  any  orders  which  may  be  expedient  or  necessary 
for  maintaining  the  obligations  resting  upon  the  United 
States  in  regard  to  proceedings  upon  the  borders  of 
Mexico.  For  these  reasons  he  has  been  requested  and 
instructed  by  the  President  to  proceed  with  }^ou  to 
your  destination,  and  act  with  you  as  an  adviser,  re 
cognized  by  this  department,  in  regard  to  the  matters 
which  have  been  herein  discussed.  After  conferring 
with  him,  you  are  at  liberty  to  proceed  to  the  City  of 
Chihuahua,  or  to  such  other  place  in  Mexico  as  may  be 
the  residence  of  President  Juarez  ;  or,  in  your  discre 
tion,  you  will  proceed  to  any  other  place  in  Mexico  not 
held  or  occupied  at  the  time  of  your  arrival  by  enemies 
of  the  republic  of  Mexico  ;  or  3Tou  will  stop  at  any 
place  in  the  United  States  or  elsewhere,  near  the  fron 
tier  or  coast  of  Mexico ;  and  await  there  a  time  to 
enter  any  portion  of  Mexico  which  shall  hereafter  be 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  145 

in   the   occupation  of  the   republican   government   of 
Mexico. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM   II.    SEWAIID. 

"  LEWIS  D.    CAMPBELL,  etc." 

In  pursuance  of  these  instructions,  General  Sher 
man  and  Mr.  Campbell  sailed  from  New  York  about 
the  10th  of  November,  and  after  spending  a  few  days 
at  Havana,  in  order  to  learn  some  reliable  news  of 
the  real  condition  of  affairs  in  Mexico,  arrived  oft' 
Vera  Cruz  on  the  evening  of  the  29th.  The  vessel 
remained  there  until  the  midnight  following,  Sunday, 
December  2,  when  she  sailed  away  under  cover  of  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  thus  ended  the  Sherman 
and  Campbell  mission  to  Mexico.  Mr.  Campbell 
found  the  situation  in  Mexico  to  be  such  that  he 
could  not  carry  out  his  instructions.  General  Sher 
man  found  that  if  he  had  been  sent  there  to  watch 
the  embarkation  of  the  French,  some  months  must 
elapse  before  he  could  enjoy  that  pleasing  spectacle. 
The  Susquehanna  therefore  made  the  best  of  her  way 
to  New  Orleans,  where  she  arrived  about  the  8th  of 
December,  touching  at  Tarnpico  and  Matamoras  on 
the  way. 

A  well-informed  correspondent  of  the  "  New  York 
Herald,"  writing  from  Washington,  gives   the  follow 
ing  facts  in  relation  to  the  affair : — 
10 


146  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

"Mexican  advices  state  that  the  abortive  Susque- 
hanna  expedition  has  proved  a  positive  injury  to  the 
Juarez  government.  The  Mexicans  are  in  nothing  so 
consistent  as  in  their  jealous  hatred  of  all  foreigners. 
Had  Sherman  and  Campbell  succeeded  an  reaching 
Juarez,  it  is  doubtful  whether  their  presence  in  the  re 
publican  seat  of  government  under  existing  circum 
stances  would  not  have  been  more  a  source  of  weakness 
than  of  strength  to  the  Mexican  President.  As  it  is, 
their  failure  to  do  any  thing  at  all  has  cast  ridicule 
upon  the  United  States ;  has  drawn  upon  Juarez  the 
suspicion  of  trafficking  with  the  foreigner,  and  has  given 
the  cause  of  Ortega,  who  is  looked  upon  as  the  anti- 
American  candidate  for  the  presidency,  an  impetus 
which  would  otherwise  have  been  wanting.  Minister 
Campbell  is  understood  to  complain  that  Juarez  made 
no  effort  to  communicate  with  the  embassy,  and  rather 
thwarted  than  aided  their  feeble  attempts  to  communi 
cate  with  him.  Juarez  probably  had  a  deep  meaning 
in  holding  aloof  from  emissaries  who  came  without 
power  to  afford  him  actual  assistance,  and  whose  pres 
ence  at  his  head-quarters  would  compromise  him  with 
his  countrymen. 

"  There  are  some  piquant  little  facts  connected  with 
the  expedition  which  have  never  yet  been  told.  Sher- 
(man  and  Campbell  pulled  together  from  the  start  like 
a  baulky  team.  Each  had  separate  instructions,  and 
each  claimed  to  rank  the  other.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
Susquehanna  at  Yera  Cruz,  Sherman,  it  seems,  was  for 
accepting  Bazaine's  invitation  and  going  straight  to 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  147 

Mexico  city.  Campbell  strongly  opposed  the  sugges 
tion  on  the  ground  that  he  was  accredited  to  Juarez 
only,  and  had  nothing  to  do  with  Bazaine,  Castelnau, 
or  any  one  outside  the  republic  of  Mexico.  This  argu 
ment  at  last  prevailed  ;  but  not  till  after  a  somewhat 
stormy  discussion,  in  the  course  of  which  personal  allu 
sions  to  kid-gloved  aides-de-camp  and  legation  secreta 
ries  presumed  to  be  "  on  the  make"  had  been  pretty 
freely  interchanged.  The  breach  thus  occasioned  was 
never  healed,  and  culminated  at  Matamoras  in  Sherman 
returning  to  Xew  Orleans  by  the  Susquehanna  and 
Campbell  by  private  steamer.  Sherman  took  up  his 
quarters  with  Sheridan  in  Xew  Orleans,  and  Campbell 
buried  himself  in  the  fourth  story  of  an  indifferent  hotel, 
each  speaking  contemptuously  of  the  other  and  giving 
a  contradictory  account  of  the  expedition." 

There  is  no  doubt  of  the  substantial  correctness  of 
this  statement.  The  "  Herald"  itself,  in  speaking  of 
it,  says  : — 

"  THE  CAMPBELL-£IIERMAN  MISSION — MAXIMILIAN 
SAYS  HE  WILL  DIE  WHERE  HE  IS. 

"  Our  Washington  despatches  give  us  the  latest  ac 
count  of  the  inside  history  of  the  late  Sherman-Campbell 
mission  to  Mexico,  which  is  so  interesting  as  to  merit 
a  few  words  from  us.  Two  prominent  facts  are  revealed 
. — one,  that  the  mission  did  not  do  the  work  intended 
for  it  ;*  and  the  other,  that  Juarez  made  no  attempt  to 

*  The  "  Herald"  adds  here,  "  because  the  elements  composing 
it  were  inharmonious," — which  was  not  the  cause  of  its  failure. 


148  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

hold  any  communication  with  the  members  of  that 
commission  because  he  feared  to  arouse  the  jealous 
susceptibility  of  his  countrymen.  The  case,  then,  thus 
stated,  presents  a  rather  unexpected  aspect;  for,  put 
ting  aside  for  a  moment  the  unchemical  compound 
known  as  the  Campbell-Sherman  mission,  we  are  in 
formed  in  plain  terms  that  the  Mexican  people  fear  any 
action  our  government  may  take  toward  restoring  the 
republican  form  of  government  among  them  from  a 
deep-rooted  conviction  that  we  are  impelled  thereto  by 
interested  motives.  Direct  allusion  to  this  was  made 
by  Juarez  in  his  speech  at  Chihuahua,  when  he  ex 
pressed  a  hope  that  the  United  States  does  not  think 
of  annexing  any  portion  of  Mexican  territory.  We 
have  repeatedly  disclaimed  any  such  intention,  but  it  is 
very  doubtful  if  our  declarations  have  had  the  slightest 
effect  toward  removing  the  deep  distrust  entertained  of 
us  in  Mexico.  The  greater  the  pity,  therefore,  that  the 
Campbell-Sherman  mission  exploded  as  it  did.  That 
commission  not  only  covered  itself  with  ridicule  and 
threw  discredit  on  the  United  States  government  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Mexicans,  but  an  opportunity  was  lost  for 
removing  the  delusion  which  that  entire  nation  persists 
in  adhering  to.  Minister  Campbell  may  or  may  not 
have  been  the  proper  person  for  the  business.  We  are 
strongly  inclined  to  think  he  was  totally  unfit.  General 
Sherman  may  or  may  not  have  been  the  right  man ;  but 
one  thing  is  very  plain — that  each  considered  himself 
the  head  of  the  mission,  and,  as  is  the  case  in  all  unnatu- 


MEXICO     UXJJER    MAXIMILIAN. 

ral  things  with  two  heads,  the  thing  was  a  monster  and 
died  after  a  brief,  unhealthy  existence. 

"Another  carious  feature  in  our  latest  Mexican  news 
is  the  reported  conversation  between  General  Casteliiau 
and  Maximilian,  wherein  the  former  is  said  to  have 
urged  an  abdication,  while  the  latter  announced  his 
determination  to  remain  where  he  is  till  he  dies." 

Bat  what  was  the  effect  of  this  mission  in  Mexico? 
The  New  Orleans  "Picayune,"  of  December  13,  says: — 

"  The  news  which  we  publish  this  afternoon  puts  an 
entirely  new  light  upon  affairs  in  Mexico.  It  would 
seem  that  the  alliance  between  Juarez  and  the  United 
States,  the  reported  sale  of  Mexican  territory,  move 
ments  on  the  border  and  expedition  of  the  Susque- 
hannah,  with  General  Sherman  and  Minister  Campbell 
to  Mexican  waters,  have  frightened  the  Mexicans  into 
their  usual  liberality,  when  the  integrity  of  their 
country  is  feared.  The  church,  always  the  first  to 
move,  have  placed  $25,000,000  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Emperor,  and  the  merchants  have  promised  to  give  him 
$10,000,000  annually,  provided  he  will  remain.  To  this 
proposition  he  assented,  immediately  issued  his  procla 
mation  accordingly,  and  the  empire  is,  for  the  time 
being,  re-established." 

"This  has  given,  great  joy  throughout  the  country. 
Church  bells  were  rung,  bonfires  lighted,  and  a  large 
mass  of  the  people  went  into  ecstacies  of  joy.  A  new 
impulse  was  at  once  given  also  to  works  of  internal  im 
provement,  railroads,  telegraphs,  etc." 


150  MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

The  fact  is,  on  recovering  from  his  sickness,  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  found  that  the  difficulties  sur 
rounding  him  were  very  great;  but,  on  a  candid 
consideration  of  them,  he  did  not  deem  them  insuper 
able.  General  Castelnau,  who  had  recently  arrived 
from  Paris,  presented  to  him  the  alternative  of  abdica 
tion  :  but  this  proposal  did  not  commend  itself  to  the 
Emperor  with  any  degree  of  favor.  After  having 
devoted  all  the  energies  of  his  life,  for  three  years,  to 
the  great  work  of  making  of  Mexico  a  happy  and 
prosperous  country,  Maximilian  did  not  think  that 
this  was  the  time  to  abandon  all  that  he  had  done, 
and  to  leave  the  country  to  anarchy.  He  convoked 
the  council  of  ministers  therefore,  and  after  laying 
before  them  a  candid  statement  of  the  difficulties  of 
the  situation,  he  desired  their  frank  opinion,  whether 
there  was  any  existing  reason,  why  he  ought  to  abdi 
cate?  Their  unanimous  reply  was,  that  by  all  means 
he  ought  to  remain  at  the  head  of  the  government. 
As  this  fully  coincided  with  his  own  views,  there  was 
no  further  question  about  the  matter,  and  the  follow 
ing  proclamations  were  at  once  issued : — 

"  PROCLAMATION  or  THE  PREFECT  or  VERA  CRUZ.   ") 
YERA  CRUZ,  Dec.  1,  1866.    J 

Viva  el  Emperio  !  Viva  el  Emperador  !  Vera  Cruz- 
anos  !  One  of  the  greatest  events  for  the  good  Mexi 
cans  has  happened  to  give  renewed  life  to  the  nation. 
His  majesty  the  Emperor,  who  has  made  so  many 


MEXICO    UXDKR     MAXIMILIAN".  151 

sacrifices  for  the  well  being  and  happiness  of  our  dear 
country,  has  given  the  final  proof  of  his  consideration 
for  our  welfare  while  agitated  by  those  natural  senti 
ments  which  struggled  in  his  breast.  In  consequence 
of  the  aflliction  of  his  august  and  noble  spouse,  our 
lovely  sovereign,  it  was  for  a  moment  feared  that  he 
w^ould  temporarily  quit  the  country  to  dedicate  his 
whole  time  to  the  rendering  of  those  attentions,  which 
the  delicate  state  of  health  of  his  worthy  consort 
rendered  necessary.  But  the  Emperor  has  sacrificed 
ail  for  us,  has  put  aside  his  duties  as  a  man  for  those 
which  concern  his  house  as  a  ruler,  and  in  the  momen 
tous  crisis  now  overhanging  the  country  declares 
solemnly  his  intention  of  continuing  in  the  front,  even 
to  the  extent  of  shedding  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  in 
the  defence  of  the  nation.  Citizens  of  Yera  Cruz,  we 
congratulate  you.  Let  us  give  thanks  to  Providence 
for  having  saved  the  integrity  of  our  country,  and  from 
the  inmost  recesses  of  our  hearts  let  us  hail  the  day  of 
resurrection  of  our  nationality,  which  was  on  the  eve  of 
being  destroyed. 

"  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  EMPEROR  MAXIMILIAN. 

"  MEXICANS. — Circumstances  of  great  magnitude  re 
lating  to  the  welfare  of  our  country,  and  which  increase 
in  strength  by  our  domestic  difficulties,  have  produced 
in  our  mind  the  conviction  that  we  ought  to  reconsider 
the  power  confided  to  us. 

"Our  Council  of  Ministers,  by  us  convoked,  has 
given  as  their  opinion  that  the  welfare  of  Mexico  still 


152  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

requires  our  presence  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  we  have 
considered  it  our  duty  to  accede  to  their  request.  We 
announce  at  the  same  time  our  intention  to  convoke  a 
national  Congress  on  the  most  ample  and  liberal  basis, 
where  all  political  parties  can  participate.  This  Con 
gress  shall  decide  whether  the  empire  shall  continue  in 
future,  and  in  case  of  assent,  shall  assist  in  framing  the 
fundamental  laws  to  consolidate  the  public  institutions 
of  the  country  ;  to  obtain  this  result  our  counsellors 
are  at  present  engaged  in  devising  the  necessary  means, 
and  at  the  same  time  arrange  matters  in  such  a  manner 
that  all  parties  may  assist  in  an  arrangement  on  that 
basis. 

"  In  the  meantime,  Mexicans,  counting  upon  you  all, 
without  excluding  any  political  class,  we  shall  continue 
with  courage  and  constancy,  the  wrork  of  regeneration 
which  you  have  placed  in  charge  of  your  countryman 

"  MAXIMILIAN, 

"  ORIZABA,  Dec.   1,    1866." 

In  taking  this  step  the  chief  reliance  of  the  Em 
peror  Maximilian  was  upon  the  Mexican  people  them 
selves.  The  events  of  December,  1866,  and  of  Janua 
ry  and  February,  1867,  have  demonstrated  that  this 
confidence  was  not  misplaced.  The  Mexican  people 
seemed  to  appreciate  the  gravity  of  the  situation, 
and  they  rallied  around  the  Emperor,  determined  to 
uphold  him,  and  the  government  which  he  had  admin 
istered  with  such  wisdom  and  paternal  care.  All 


MEXICO     UXDETC    MAXIMILIAN.  153 

classes  rushed  to  his  support.  The  clergy  and  the 
merchants  furnished  the  financial  means  that  were 
necessary  for  immediate  use;  volunteers  flocked  to 
the  army,  and  swelled  the  ranks  of  the  regiments ; 
and  soon  all  matters  began  to  wear  an  encouraging 
aspect.  The  Sherman  and  Cambell  mission  therefore, 
so  far  from  witnessing  the  downfall  of  the  Mexican 
Empire,  has  only  demonstrated  the  attachment  of  the 
Mexican  people  to  it,  and  their  determination  to  up 
hold  it. 

Military  operations  against  the  Juarists  were  at 
once  commenced,  and  were  carried  on  with  vigor  and 
.  success.  Ortega,  the  legal  President  of  the  defunct  Mex 
ican  republic,  escaping  from  the  illegal  imprisonment 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected  by  General  Sheridan, 
had  crossed  the  Eio  Grande,  and  his  partisans  and 
those  of  Juarez  were  at  once  engaged  in  deadly  strife 
with  each  other.  The  latest  intelligence  from  Mexico 
brings  us  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  cities  of 
Zacatecas  and  San  Luis  Potosi,  by  a  Division  of  the 
Imperial  troops  under  the  Mexican  General  Miramon, 
— the  defeat  of  the  republican  troops  at  those  points, 
and  the  capture  of  Juarez  himself.. 

The  fate  of  Mexico  depends  upon  the  United  States. 
A     If  our   neutrality  toward  that  country  is  maintained, 
in  accordance  with  Mr.  Seward's  promise  to  the  Em 
peror  Napoleon,  the  "  republican"  faction  in  Mexico  will 
destroy  each  other,  and  the  government  under  Max- 


154  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

imilian  will  become  firmly  established.  But  it  may 
be  quite  another  matter  if  we  continue  to  take  the 
part  of  the  usurper  Juarez  against  the  legal  President 
Ortega,  and  if  the  Juarists  continue  to  derive  aid  and 
encouragement  from  the  United  States.  In  conse 
quence  of  such  intervention,  Maximilian  may  be  forced 
to  abdicate  :  and  what  will  be  the  result  then  ?  The 
war  between  the  Juarists  and  the  followers  of  Ortega 
will  rage  with  greater  bitterness  than  ever :  Mexico 
will  at  once  revert  to  its  former  condition  of  anarchy : 
and  continual  civil  wars  will  absorb  all  the  energies 
and  all  the  wealth  of  the  people.  Mexico  has  never 
prospered  under  a  republic,  and  the  history  and  char 
acter  of  her  people  proves  that  she  never  can  prosper 
under  that  form  of  government.  To  re-establish  the 
republic  in  Mexico  would  simply  be  to  give  up  that 
country  to  the  pillage  of  rival  republican  chiefs. 

Under  such  a  state  of  things,  every  foreign  nation 
which  has  claims  against  Mexico  would  at  once  present 
them,  and  Mexico  would  again  be  at  the  mercy  of 
every  foreign  power.  England,  Spain,  and  France, 
all  have  heavy  claims  against  Mexico,  which  remain 
unsatisfied  to  this  day.  Under  the  present  govern 
ment  of  that  country,  there  is  a  fair  prospect  that  those 
claims  will  be  eventually  paid.  France  has  arranged 
for  hers,  and  England  and  Spain  are  willing  to  wait. 

But  the  matter  would  be  very  different,  if  the  pre 
sent  government  of  Mexico  should  be  destroyed  by 


MEXICO     UNDHIi     MAXIMILIAN.  155 

intervention  on  the  part  of  the  TJnited  States ;  and 
with  it,  the  ability  of  Mexico  to  satisfy  these  claims. 
Those  three  nations  would  again  make  war  upon 
Mexico,  as  they  did  in  1861 :  they  would  be  compelled 
to  do  so,  in  order  to  obtain  for  their  own  citizens  the 
payment  of  their  just  claims.  The  end  of  such  a  war 
would  find  Mexico  dismembered,  as  we  dismembered 
her  at  the  end  of  our  Mexican  war  in  1818.  The 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  with  its  already  surveyed 
railroad  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
the  States  of  Oaxaca,  Tabaso,  Chiapas,  Campeche,  and 
Yucatan,  lie  very  convenient  to  the  British  and  Span 
ish  possessions  in  the  Balize  and  Cuba :  and  nothing 
would  be  easier  than  for  the  French,  at  the  same  time, 
to  again  occupy  and  hold  the  port  and  State  of  Yera 
Cruz,  and  the  city  of  Mexico,  with  the  immediately 
surrounding  country. 

The  best  and  richest  half  of  Mexico  thus  disposed 
of,  what  would  become  of  the  remainder?  It  would 
ultimately  be  absorbed  by  the  United  States,  and 
Mexico,  as  a  nation,  would  disappear  from  the  face  of 
the  earth. 


156  MEXICO    UXDLK     MAXIMILIAN". 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Policy  of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico — Question  before  the  "  Lincoln 
Administration  :  "  Shall  we  Save  the  Mexican  Republic  ?" — Consequences 
to  the  North  of  Interference  in  Opposition  to  Napoleon — Object  of  the 
American  Civil  War — Interference  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  would 
Defeat  that  Object— Critical  Condition  of  the  North  in  1862— Conse 
quences  to  the  North  if  the  Emperor  Napoleon  should  Recognize  the 
South — The  United  States  Determine  to  Maintain  a  Neutral  Policy — 
The  United  States  Government  Acknowledges  the  Right  of  France 
to  make  War  on  the  Mexican  Republic,  and  to  Secure  the  Fruits  of 
Victory. 

No  sooner  did  the  Emperor  Maximilian  ascend  tlie 
throne  of  Mexico,  than  he  communicated  the  fact  of 
his  accession  to  all  the  great  powers  of  the  world, 'and 
among  the  rest,  to  the  United  States.  This  was  in 
May,  186-i.  The  United  States  government  took  no 
notice  of  the  communication.  All  the  other  great 
powers  irmnediately  recognized  the  empire  of  Mexico, 
sent  ministers  to  reside  at  the  court  of  Maximilian, 
and  received  ministers  from  him  to  reside  at  their 
capitals.  But  why  did  the  United  States  not  interfere 
in  time  to  prevent  the  extinction  of  the  Mexican  re 
public? 

When  France  made  war  on  Mexico,  in  1861  and 
1862;  when  the  French  expedition,  under  General 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  15J 

Forey,  was  sent  to  Mexico,  the  United  States  was  in 
vited  to  join  that  expedition.  The  United  States 
government  declined,  but  at  the  same  time  admitted 
the  justice  of  the  Avar  on  the  part  of  France.  On  the 
llth  of  September,  1803,  Mr.  Seward  said  to  Mr. 
Motley,  our  minister  to  Vienna:  "  When  France  made 
war  against  Mexico,  we  asked  of  France  explanations 
of  her  objects  and  purposes.  She  answered  that  it  was 
a  war  for  the  redress  of  grievances;  that  she  did  not 
intend  to  permanently  occupy  or  dominate  in  Mexico ; 
and  that  she  should  leave  to  the  people  of  Mexico  a 
free  choice  of  institutions  of  government.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  United  States  adopted,  and 
they  have  since  maintained,  entire  neutrality  between 
the  belligerents,  in  harmony  with  our  traditional 
policy  in  regard  to  foreign  wars." 

But  our  policy  toward  Mexico  had  a  deeper  founda 
tion  than  that.  At  the  time  of  the  French  intervention 
in  Mexico,  the  United  States  were  engaged  in  civil 
wrar.  In  1862,  when  it  became  necessary  for  our 
government  to  decide  what  our  policy  toward  Mexico 
was  to  be — when  it  became  absolutely  necessary  for 
us  to  decide  whether  we  would  uphold  the  Monroe 
doctrine  in  Mexico,  and  save  the  republic  there,  or 
remain  coldly  looking  on  while  the  empire  was  being 
established — at  that  time  matters  did  not  look  well 
fur  the  North. 

The  iirst  war  fever  had   passed  away,  and  people 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

began  to  realize  that  they  had  been  entrapped  into  a 
job  that  was  going  to  be  any  thing  but  an  easy  one. 
Drafting  had  not  yet  begun,  but  it  was  plainly  seen 
^   that   conscription   was   inevitable,   and   that  without 
<^   forced  conscription  the  war  could  not  be  carried  on. 
2£  it  was  plainly  seen  that  the  real  object  of  the  war  was 
v  /to  free  the  negroes   and  to  subjugate  the  Southern 
States ;  and  that  in  giving  liberty  to  the  blacks  the 
\    white  people  would  lose  their  own^ 

The  finances  of  the  country  had  begun  to  get  de 
ranged.  All  the  specie  in  the  country  had  been  with 
drawn  from  circulation,  and  had  been  sent  to  Europe 
to  buy  arms ;  and  our  new  national  bank-note  currency 
had  not  yet  got  under  headway.  The  events  of  the 
war  had  not  been  such  as  to  inspire  confidence  as  to 
the  result  of  the  struggle.  The  North  had  been  de 
feated,  and  the  South  had  been  victorious,  at  Big 
Bethel,  Bull  Run,  Manassas  Junction,  Ball's  Bluff,  and 
Belmont.  Washington  had  been  beleaguered  by  the 
Confederate  forces,  from  the  battle  of  Manassas,  in 
July,  1861,  until  March,  1862,  a  period  of  seven 
months*  President  Lincoln  had  offered  the  South 
four  hundred  millions  of  dollars  for  the  liberation  of 
their  slaves,  and  the  offer  had  been  refused.  The 
peninsula  campaign  against  Richmond  had  not  been 
successful.  The  -national  army  had  then  been  placed 
under  the  command  of  General  Pope.  It  had  been 
defeated  with  terrible  loss,  and  had  retreated  in  con- 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

fusion  to  Washington,  at  the  end  of  August,  1862  ; 
and  the  prestige  of  General  McClellan's  name  alone 
had  saved  the  capital  from  capture.  The  President 
had  left  the  White  House,  so  imminent  was  the  danger, 
and  had  gone  to  General  McClellan's  residence,  and 
implored  him  to  take  command  of  all  the  troops  for 
the  defence  of  the  capital ;  and  a  locomotive  was^ 
kept  at  the  depot,  with  steam  up  day  and  night,  ready 
to  convey  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr.  Stanton  away  to  Balti 
more  in  case  the  Confederates  should  attack  Wash 
ington. 

Such  was  the  situation,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
called  upon  to  adopt  a  course  of  policy  toward  Mexico. 
And  here  it  must  be  remembered  who  caused  the  war, 

;  and  for  what  purpose  it  was  waged.  The  war  origin 
ated  in  a  systematic  co^spl1^/  ou  the  part  of  the 
leaders  of  the  radical  Republican  party,  of  whom  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  one,  for  the  conquest  and  subjugation  of 

1  the  Southern  States.  Any  person  with  a  calm  and 
unprejudiced  mind,  who  will  sit  down  and  study  the 
political  history  of  the  country  for  the  last  forty  years, 
can  plainly  trace  this  conspiracy  through  the  whole 
of  that  long  period.  It  took  its  rise  in  that  spirit  of 
intolerance  which  has  always  been  the  distinguishing 
trait  of  New  England  Puritanism.  This  spirit  of  in 
tolerance  had  swept  all  over  the  Northern  States,  and 
wherever  it  could  make  its  influence  felt,  it  compelled 
men  to  abandon  the  most  cherished  convictions  of  their 


ftfc 


MEXICO     UXPER    MAXIMILIAN. 


lives,  and  to  conform  to  the  rigid,  unbending  standard 
of  Puritan  morality  and  politics. 

The  conspiracy  was  successful  in  driving  the 
Southern  States  to  secede,  so  as  to  have  a  pretext  for 
making  war  on  them.  It  was  also  successful  in  ex 
citing  the  North  to  make  war  on  them,  by  pretending 
that  it  should  be  a  war  for  the  restoration  of  the 
Union.  Left  alone,  there  was  a  possibility  that  the 
North,  after  a  war  of  some  years'  duration,  might  sub 
jugate  the  Southern  States  and  impose  upon  them 
whatever,  conditions  they  pleased.  But  it  was  certain 
that  the  North  could  not  conquer  the  Southern  States 
if  any  European  power  should  recognize  the  latter  as 
an  independent  government  and  enter  into  an  alliance 
with  them.  And  there  seemed  reason  to  fear  that  this 
would  take  place.-  England  was  building  magnificent 

iron-clad  vessels  for  the  South ;  and  all  through  Mr. 

• 

Seward's  diplomatic  correspondence,  in  1862,  are  ex 
pressions  of  fear  that  the  Emperor^Napoleon  might 
recognize  the  South. 

One  or  two  instances  of  this  must  suffice  here  for  illus 
tration.  On  the  15th  of  September,  1863,  the  Minister 
(of  Foreign  Affairs  wrote  as  follows  to  the  French 
minister  at  Washington : 

"PARIS,  September  15,  1863. 

"  Mr.  Dayton,  the  American  minister,  has  been  moved 
at  certain  rumors  which  appear  lately  to  have  obtained 
some  credit  at  Paris,  and  he  has  come  to  converse  with 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  161 

me  about  them.  According  to  these  reports,  the  Em 
peror's  government  has  decided  to  recognize  the  South 
ern  States,  and  a  treaty  has  even  been  alread}7  signed, 
according  to  which  the  new  confederacy  is  to  cede  to 
France,  Texas  and  a  part  of  Louisiana." 

On  the  9th  of  October,  1863,  Mr.  Seward  wrote  to 
Mr.  Dayton,  our  minister  to  Franco : 

"  We  know  from  many  sources,  and  even  from  the 
direct  statement  of  the  Emperor  of  France,  that  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  insurrection  he  adopted  the  then 
current  opinion  of  European  statesmen  that  the  efforts 
of  this  government  to  suppress  it  would  be  unsuccessful. 
To  this  pre-judgment  we  attribute  his  agreement  with 
Great  Britain  to  act  in  concert  with  her  upon  interna 
tional  questions  which  might  arise  out  of  the  conflict, 
his  practical  concession  of  a  belligerent  character  to  the 
insurgents,  his  repeated  suggestions  of  accommodations 
by  this  government  with  the  insurgents,  and  his  con 
ferences  on  the  subject  of  a  recognition.  These  proceed 
ings  of  the  Emperor  of  France  have  been  very  injurious 
to  the  United  States  by  encouraging  and  thus  prolonging 
the  insurrection.  When  recurring  to  what  the  Emperor 
of  France  has  already  done,  we  cannot,  at  any  time,  feel 
assured  that,  under  mistaken  impressions  of  our  embar 
rassments  in  consequence  of  a  lamentable  civil  war,  he 
may  not  go  further  in  the  way  of  encouragement  to  the 
insurgents,  whose  intrigues  in  Paris  we  understand  and 

do  not  underestimate. " 
11 


162  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

Of  course,  if  the  Emperor  Napoleon  should  "go  much 
further  in  the  way  of  encouragement  to  the  insurgents" 
than  "  he  had  already  done ;"  if  "  his  conferences  on  the 
subject  of  recognition"  should  lead  him  finally  to  re 
cognize  the  South,  then  the  grand  conspiracy  of  the 
radical  Kepublicans,  for  the  conquest  and  subjugation 
of  the  Southern  States,  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  fully 
committed,  would  have  to  be  abandoned.  What,  then, 
was  to  be  done  ? 

There  was  Napoleon,  making  war  against  Mexico, 
just  as  we,  said  the  radical  Kepublicans,  are  making 
war  against  the  South.  If  we  interfere,  we  shall  save 
the  Mexican  republic,  save  Mexico  from  conquest, 
baffle  all  of  Napoleon's  designs.  If  Napoleon  inter 
poses  in  our  quarrel,  he  will  save  the  cause  for  which 
the  South  is  fighting,  will  save  the  South  from  con 
quest,  will  baffle  all  our  designs.  If  we  let  Napoleon 
alone,  he  can  do  what  he  pleases  in  Mexico.  If  we 
can  induce  Napoleon  to  let  us  alone,  we  can  do  what 
we  please  with  the  Southern  States. 

Thus  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  radical  Eepublicans 
reasoned,  in  1862  ;  and  thus  it  was  that  no  hand  on 
our  part  was  raised  to  save  the  Mexican  republic  or 
to  vindicate  the  Monroe  doctrine.  This  is  the  key  to 
the  whole  policy  of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico, 
from  186J.  to  1866.  The  Washington  correspondent 
of  the  "New  York  News,"  in  a  letter  dated  Washing 
ton,  December  30th,  1865,  says : 


MEXICO     USDEK    MAXIMILIAN.  163 

How  THE  XORTII  CONQUERED  THE  SOUTH. 

*     ^- 

"It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose,  or  to  say,  that  the 

diplomatic  correspondence  of  our  government  with 
France,  in  regard  to  Mexican  affairs,  when  it  is  sent  in 
to  Congress,  '  will  show  that  our  government  has  at  no 
time  had  any  purpose  or  thought  of  abandoning  the 
Monroe  doctrine.'  On  the  other  hand,  that  correspon 
dence  will  show  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  was  aban 
doned  by  the  government,  in  18G1  and  1862,  when 
Napoleon  first  began  the  execution  of  his  designs  in 
Mexico,  and  communicated  those  designs  to  us.  The 
government  clearly  perceived  at  that  time  that  if  we  de 
clared  our  firm  determination  then  to  uphold  the  Monroe 
doctrine,  and  not  to  permit  the  establishment  of  a  mon 
archy  in  Mexico,  that  Napoleon  would  recognize  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  and  would  then,  after  assisting 
the  South  to  gain  her  independence,  establish  a  monarchy 
in  Mexico  and  enter  into  an  alliance  with  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  The  proofs  of  this  are  scattered  all 
through  Mr.  Da}'ton's  diplomatic  correspondence,  in 
1862  and  1863;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  yielded 
to  what  seemed  a  military  necessit}^,  gave  a  tacit  consent 
to  Napoleon's  operations  against  Mexico,  and  said  noth 
ing  about  the  Monroe  doctrine,  we  would  thereby  secure 
Napoleon's  neutrality  and  would  be  able  to  conquer  the 
South.  I  assert,  and  I  defy  contradiction,  that  this 
alternative  was  considered  at  several  successive  Cabinet 
meetings,  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1861,  and  that  the 
latter  was  deliberately  chosen.  It  was  deliberately  de- 


164  MEXICO   UN;  Eii   MAXIMILIAN. 

cided  by  the  government  that  the  Monroe  doctrine 
should  be  sacrificed,  in  order  that  we  might  be  able  to 
'whip  the  South.'  We  see  the  result  to-day  in  the  firm 
establishment  of  the  Mexican  empire,  a  result  which  the 
government  must  have  foreseen.  The  only  alternative 
left  to  us  now  is  to  recognize  that  empire,  or  to  go  to 
war  with  France,  Austria,  Belgium,  Spain,  Italy,  and 
England,  in  order  to  root  it  out.  The  idea  that  Maxi-^ 
milian  will  abdicate,  or  that  he  will  be  deserted  by  his 
European  allies,  is  too  preposterous  to  be  noticed." 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1863,  Mr.  Seward  wrote 
to  Mr.  Dayton,  our  minister  to  Paris :  "  The  United 
States  have  neither  the  right  nor  the  disposition  to 
intervene  by  force  on  either  side,  in  the  war  which  is 
going  on  between  France  and  Mexico."  On  the  elev 
enth  of  the  same  month,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Motley,  our 
minister  to  Austria:  "When  France  made  war  against 
Mexico,  we  asked  of  France  explanations  of  her  ob 
jects  and  purposes.  She  answered,  that  it  was  a  war 
for  the  redress  of  grievances;  and  that  she  did  not 
intend  permanently  to  occupy  or  dominate  in  Mexico, 
and  that  she  should  leave  to  the  people  of  Mexico  a 
free  choice  of  institutions  of  government.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  United  States  adopted,  and 
they  have  since  maintained,  entire  neutrality  between 
the  belligerents,  in  harmony  with  the  traditional 
policy  in  regard  to  foreign  wars. 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  165 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Policy  of  President  Johnson's  Administration  toward  Mexico — His  Mes 
sage  in  December,  1865 — Our  Policy  to  be  Based  upon  the  Principle  of 
Non-intervention — We  must  Finally  Recognize  the  Government  de 
Facto — Why  Mr.  Logan  was  Appointed  Minister  to  Mexico — Why  he 
Refused  the  Appointment — Why  Mr.  Campbell  was  Appointed — Why 
Mr.  Campbell  is  Not  Permitted  to  go  to  Mexico — Xo  Constitutional 
Republican  Government  in  Mexico  in  Existence — Juarez  a  Usurper. 

THE  policy  of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico, 
from  1861  to  1865,  might  have  been  right  or  wrong. 
President  Johnson  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  On 
his  accession  to  the  Presidency,  he  found  that  the 
republic  of  Mexico  no  longer  existed,  and  that  it 
had  been  succeeded  by  an  empire  which  was  firmly 
established,  and  which  had  been  formally  recognized 
by  the  eight  great  powers  of  the  earth.  He  found, 
that  of  all  the.  great  powers  of  the  earth,  the  United 
States  was  the  only  one  that  was  not  holding  diplo 
matic  relations  with  Mexico.  He  found,  that  for 
the  first  time  in  our  history,  the  United  States  had 
failed  to  recognize  a  de  facto  government.  On  fur 
ther  inquiry  and  study,  he  found  it  to  be  an  un 
questionable  fact  that  the  new  government  in  Mexico 
had  been  established  by  the  will  of  the  people,  and 
was  heartily  supported  by  nine  tenths  of  the  popu- 


166  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN". 

lation  of  Mexico,  including  all  the  honest  and  in 
dustrious  people,  all  the  merchants,  all  the  men  of 
wealth  and  property,  all  the  educated  and  professional 
men,  and  by  the  church.  He  found  that  it  was 
opposed  solely  by  a  few  bands  of  guerillas. 

The  question  for  him  to  determine  was,  whether  he 
should  interpose  and  uproot  all  this,  and,  by  forcing 
a  republican  government  upon  Mexico,  throw  back 
that  country  into  its  former  condition  of  anarchy  and 
weakness,  or  whether,  on  the  other  hand,  he  should 
observe  our  settled  policy  of  non-intervention  in  the 
affairs  of  other  nations,  and  leave  Mexico  to  the 
enjoyment  of  that  government  which  she  had  chosen, 
and  under  which,  for  three  years,  her  people  had 
been  so  happy  and  prosperous. 

The  Washington  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
"  News,"  in  his  letter  of  December  8,  1865,  in  speak 
ing  of  the  message  which  President  Johnson  had  just 
sent  in  to  Congress,  says  : 

"  There  is  nothing  either  in  the  character  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  or  in  the  circumstances  by  which  he  is  sur 
rounded,  which  require  him  to  use  the  language  of 
ambiguity  in  speaking  of  the  relations  in  which  we 
stand  toward  Mexico.  If  the  government  intends  to 
uphold  the  Monroe  doctrine  in  Mexico,  there  is  no 
reason  why  the  President  should  not  plainly  say  so. 
But  he  does  not  say  it,  nor  can  any  such  intention  be 
implied  from  what  he  does  say.  Napoleon  has  done  a 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  167 

certain  work  in  Mexico.  What  he  has  done  there  is 
finished  and  complete.  There  is  nothing  more  for  him 
to  do  there.  But  the  whole  world  knows  what  he  has 
done :  namely,  that  he  has  established  in  Mexico  a 
strong  and  permanent  government.  Now,  if  Mr.  John 
son  objected  to  that;  if  he  objected  to  what  Xapoleon 
has  done  in  Mexico ;  if  he  intended  to  take  any  meas 
ures  to  undo  what  Napoleon  has  done ;  if  he  intended  to 
take  any  measures  whatever  for  the  expulsion  of  Maxi 
milian  and  the  resuscitation  of  the  Mexican  republic, 
he  would  have  said  so,  plainly  and  unequivocally,  in 
his  message.  But  he  says  nothing  of  the  kind.  He 
does  not  complain  of  or  object  to,  any  thing  that  Xapo- 
leon  has  done  in  Mexico.  lie  does  say,  in  a  very  vague 
and  indefinite  manner,  that  we  might  protect  ourselves 
against  designs  inimical  to  our  own  government ;  but 
he  does  not  say  that  the  government  has  any  design  to 
interfere  in  favor  of  a  republic  in  Mexico.  On  the  con- 
traiy,  alluding  to  the  fact  that  the  Mexicans  seem  to 
have  chosen  a  monachy  instead  of  a  republic,  he  says, 
that  "  Republicanism  is  the  only  government  suited  to 
our  condition  ;  but  we  have  never  sought  to  impose  it 
upon  others." 

"INTENTIONS  or  THE  GOVERNMENT  TOWARD  MEXICO. 

"  Again,  in  the  whole  Message  there  is  not  one  word 
of  sympathy  for  the  Mexican  republic ;  not  one  word 
of  regret  that  the  republic  has  fallen,  and  has  been  suc 
ceeded  by  an  empire  ;  not  one  word  of  encouragement 
to  Juarez  and  his  followers.  This  studied  omission 


168  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

must  mean  something.  It  can  only  mean  that  the  gov 
ernment  does  not  feel  any  such  sympathy  or  regret. 
Mr.  Johnson  is  not  the  man  to  suppress  the  sentiments 
of  the  government  on  such  a  subject.  A  correspon 
dence  between  the  United  States  and  France,  on  the 
subject,  is  alluded  to.  We  are  not  left  in  the  dark  as  to 
the  nature  of  that  correspondence.  Napoleon's  designs 
in  regard  to  Mexico  have  been  plainly  and  unequivo 
cally  expressed,  and  have  been  bef6re  the  world  ever 
since  1863.  He  concealed  nothing  from  the  first.  The 
purpose  which  he  had  in  view,  and  which  was  announced 
as  early  as  1863,  has  been  fully  accomplished.  There 
is  nothing  more  in  Mexico  for  him  to  do;  and  he  has  no 
'designs,'  'inimical'  or  otherwise,  'toward  the  United 
States,'  or  'against  our  government.'  He  has  even 
offered  to  withdraw  from  Mexico  all  the  French  troops, 
if  we  will  maintain  our  former  neutrality  toward  Mexico. 
On  our  part,  the  correspondence  alluded  to  by  the  Presi 
dent  has  been  carried  on  by  Mr.  Seward.  Mr.  Seward 
is  not  a  man  whose  foreign  policy  is  subject  to  sudden 
changes.  We  have  Mr.  Seward's  diplomatic  correspon. 
dence  down  to  the  end  of  the  year  1864.  We  have  his 
letters  to  all  of  our  foreign  ministers  long  after  the  em 
pire  in  Mexico  was  firmly  established,  and  his  instruc 
tions  to  them  on  that  subject.  There  is  no  ambiguity 
in  those  letters.  He  speaks  plainly  and  to  the  point. 
And  the  whole  tenor  of  what  he  says  is  this :  that, 
under  no  circumstances,  will  the  United  States  inter 
fere  in  what  is  going  on  in  Mexico ;  that  we  will  con 
tinue  to  preserve  the  most  perfect  neutrality  between 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  169 

the  belligerents,  and  that  in  the  end  we  will  recognize 
the  government  which  shall  be  finally  established." 

The  same  writer,  in  another  letter  of  the  same  date, 
says,  in  relation  to  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Logan  as 
minister  to  the  republic  of  Mexico  : — 

"  General  Logan  arrived  here  last  evening,  and  had 
an  interview  with  the  President  and  Secretary  of  State 
before  the  cabinet  meeting  to-day,  lie  stated  to  the 
President  that  he  would  gladly  accept  the  post  of  min 
ister  to  Mexico,  if  the  government  would  assure  him 
that  our  policy  toward  Mexico  would  be  changed,  and 
that  we  would  aid  the  liberals  in  Mexico  in  expelling 
Maximilian  and  in  restoring  the  republic ;  but  that  he 
positively  declined  the  mission  until  he  should  receive 
such  assurances.  The  President  informed  him  that  he 
could  not  give  him  those  assurances ;  that,  up  to  this 
time,  the  government  had  not  determined  to  make  any 
change  in  its  policy,  Mr.  Seward  added  that  non-in 
terference  in  the  affairs  of  other  nations  was  one  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  our  government ;  that,  so  far 
as  it  applied  to  Mexico,  that  policy  had  been  adopted 
when  France  made  war  against  Mexico,  in  1861,  and 
had  been  steadily  adhered  to  ever  since ;  and  there  was 
no  reason  for  a  departure  from  that  policy  now ;  that 
it  would,  on  the  other  hand,  be  maintained  and  con 
tinued  ;  that  the  Mexican  people  must  be  left  free  to 
decide  their  form  of  government  for  themselves  ;  that,  as 
the  President  had  stated  in  his  message,  "  we  have 
never  been  the  propagandists  of  republicanism,  and  have 


170  MEXICO    UXDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

never  sought  to  impose  our  form  of  government  upon 
others  ;"  and  that  we  must  recognize  the  sovereignty 
of  Mexico  in  whatever  form  the  Mexican  people  them- 
selves  choose  to  manifest  it. 

"  Thus  the  matter  ended ;  and  thus  ends  the  delusion 
that  the  American  people  indulged  in  when  the  appoint 
ment  of  General  Logan  was  first  announced." 

The  same  writer,  in  a  letter  to  the  "Chicago  Times" 
dated  December  24,  1865,  thus  explains  the  subse 
quent  appointment  of  Mr.  Campbell,  in  place  of  Mr. 
Logan : — 

"  The  appointment  of  Mr.  Campbell  is  a  tub  thrown 
to  the  whale.  It  was  made  from  the  same  motives,  and 
with  the  same  end  in  view,  as  Mr.  Logan's  appointment. 
Our  foreign  affairs  under  this  administration,  are  man 
aged  exclusively  by  Mr.  Seward,  precisely  the  same  as 
they  were  under  the  former  administration.  Mr. 
Seward  sees  the  necessity  of  making  some  concession 
to  the  strong  feeling  in  favor  of  the  Monroe  doctrine, 
which  has  recently  found  such  emphatic  expression  in 
Congress  ;  and  therefore  he  caused  Mr.  Campbell  to  be 
appointed  in  place  of  Mr.  Logan,  who  declined.  But 
the  appointment  of  Mr.  Campbell  is  not  the  fact  upon 
which  the  public  should  fix  their  attention.  The  great 
point  to  be  ascertained  is,  why  did  General  Logan 
refuse  to  accept  the  Mexican  mission  ?  That  is  the 
important  point ;  and  on  this  point  the  readers  of  the 
"  Times"  shall  not  be  in  the  dark. 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  171 

General  Logan  was  appointed  November  14,  18G5. 
He  was  selected  because  he  had  identified  himself  with 
the  Monroe  doctrine  and  was  prominently  before  the 
public  as  an  advocate  for  its  enforcement,  even  by 
force  of  arms,  if  necessary.  The  Democratic  press 
everywhere  throughout  the  country  hailed  his  appoint 
ment,  as  affording  a  sure  indication  that  our  policy 
toward  Mexico  would  be  changed,  and  that  our  govern 
ment  intended  now  to  take  an  active  stand  in  favor  of 
the  Mexican  republic.  General  Logan  himself  believed 
so.  But  I  ascertained,  and  stated  before  the  end  of 
that  month,  that  he  was  mistaken,  and  that,  when  he 
discovered  that  fact,  he  would  refuse  to  accept  the 
mission.  The  event  has  confirmed  this  statement.  On 
the  8th  inst.,  he  had  a  long  interview  with  the  Presi 
dent  and  Secretary  of  State.  For  some  days  previously 
Mr.  Seward  had  been  urging  him  to  accept  the  appoint 
ment.  The  time  had  now  come  when  he  must  decide. 
He  frankly  expressed  his  desire  to  go  to  Mexico,  if  he 
could  be  assured  that  our  policy  toward  that  country 
would  be  changed.  But  he  declared  his  unwillingness 
to  go,  unless  the  government  intended  to.extend  some 
substantial  aid  to  the  liberals.  He  was  informed  that 
our  policy  of  neutrality  toward  Mexico  would  remain 
unchanged  for  the  present,  and  he  at  once  and  peremp 
torily  refused  the  mission.  What  transpired  at  this 
interview  was  kept  a  profound  secret  for  ten  days,  and 
in  the  meantime,  the  public  was  informed  almost  daily 
that  General  Logan  would  probably  accept.  But,  on 
the  21st  inst.,  the  "Intelligencer"  announced  the  appoint- 


172  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

ment  of  Mr.    Campbell  '  in  place  of  Mr.   Logan  who 
declines.' 

"  Now  who  can  believe  that  the  policy  of  the  adminis 
tration,  on  an  important  question  of  foreign  policy  like 
this,  has  changed  since  the  8th  of  December  ?  Depend 
upon  it,  that  policy  is  unchanged.  But  Mr.  Campbell 
is  a  different  man  from  General  Logan.  I  believe  him 
to  be  a  man  of  ability,  and  a  gentleman  who  would  not 
disgrace  the  diplomatic  service  of  the  country.  But  he 
is  not  particularly  distinguished  as  '  a  Monroe  doctrine 
man,'  and  his  appointment  does  not  carry  the  weight 
that  Mr.  Logan's  did.  And  he  was  spoken  of,  only  a 
few  weeks  ago,  by  an  able  and  usually  accurate  Wash 
ington  correspondent  as  a  hanger-around  bar-rooms  and 
saloons,  and  as  a  man  who  had  already  outlived  his 
influence.  What  is  the  precise  nature  of  his  instruc 
tions,  and  what  his  course  will  be,  I  am  as  yet  unable 
to  say.  Your  readers  may  be  assured,  however,  on 
two  points  :  1.  That  there  is  nothing  in  his  instructions 
which  will  lead  the  liberals  in  Mexico  to  expect  any 
aid  from  the  United  States,  or  that  will  bring  about 
hostilities  between  the  United  States  and  France  ;  and, 
2.  That  the  reasons  which  impel  the  United  States  to 
appoint  a  minister  to  the  Mexican  republic  are  so  well 
understood  at  Paris  that  this  appointment  will  not 
affect  the  diplomatic  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  France." 

Our  policy  of  neutrality  toward  Mexico  is  based 
upon  sound  principles  of  international  law.  The 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  173 

United  States  government,  in  1862,  acknowledged  the 
right  of  France  to  resort  to  war  in  order  to  enforce 
her  just  claims  against  Mexico.  That  acknowledg 
ment  was  of  itself  an  engagement  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  to  recognize  any  de  facto  government 
that  might  be  the  legitimate  result  of  that  war.  See 
Wheaton's  International  Law,  Lawrence's  edition. 
That  the  government  of  the  United  States  intended 
that  such  a  government  de  facto  in  Mexico  should 
eventually  be  recognized,  is  evident  from  Mr.  Seward's 
diplomatic  correspondence. 

THE   TREATY   WITH    PRESIDENT   JUAREZ. 

But  there  are  deeper  and  more  important  considera 
tions,  even  than  these,  which  require  a  brief  historical 
retrospect.  In  accordance  with  the  Mexican  constitu 
tion  Juarez  was  elected  President  in  1859.  In  1860 
our  minister  to  Mexico  negotiated  a  treaty  with  him, 
which  would  have  been  vastly  advantageous  to  us  in 
a  commercial  point  of  view,  and  would,  in  all  proba 
bility,  have  prevented  the  subsequent  intervention  by 
England  and  France,  and  the  present  establishment  of 
the  Mexican  empire. 

By  this  treaty  the  Mexican  government  granted  the 
right  of  way  for  railroad  purposes,  through  the  States 
of  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  with  a  protectorate  over 
the  same ;  in  consideration  of  which  the  United  States 
agreed  to  loan  Juarez  four  million  dollars:  What 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

would  have  been  the  result  of  the  ratification  of 
this  treaty  ?  In  the  first  place,  it  would  have  firmly 
established  the  constitutional  republican  government 
of  Mexico,  under  President  Juarez.  It  would  have 
enabled  the  latter  to  have  paid  off  the  foreign  debts 
of  Mexico,  thus  taking  away  all  pretence  for  subse 
quent  French  interference ;  and,  finally,  it  would  have 
enabled  the  Mexican  people  to  demonstrate  whether 
or  not  they  were  capable  of  living  under  a  republican 
government.  Besides  that  it  would  have  given  us  an 
opportunity,  and  the  means  of  building  a  Southern 
Pacific  Kailroad,  running  through  Texas,  with  its 
western  terminus  at  the  seaport  of  Guaymas.  Sup 
pose  the  four  million  dollars  had  never  been  repaid, 
what  then  ?  "We  would  have  a  protectorate  over  the 
whole  of  the  two  northern  States  of  Mexico.  They 
would  already  be  in  our  possession,  and  they  would, 
ultimately,  have  been  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

WHY   WAS   THE   TREATY   NOT   KATIFIED  ? 

That  treaty,  however,  failed  to  receive  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  Senate.  It  is  true  that  this  treaty  pledged 
the  United  States  to  uphold  the  Monroe  doctrine  (as 
it  was  then  understood,  and  as  it  has  been  until  now 
understood)  in  Mexico.  Was  that  the  reason  why  it 
was  not  ratified?  Whatever  the  reason  was,  the 
refusal  of  the  Senate  to  ratify  this  treaty,  prepared 


MEXICO    UXDER    MAXIMILIAN.  175 

the  way  for  the  downfall  of  tlic  Mexican  republic, 
and  opened  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  the 
empire. 

Three  years  have  elapsed  since  the  establishment 
of  the  Mexican  empire.  Its  stability  seems  to  be 
beyond  question.  Can  it  be  possible  that  a  nation  of 
eight  millions  of  people  would  have  permitted  this 
state  of  things  if  they  were,  indeed,  opposed  to  it? 
It  has  been  a  favorite  expression  that  the  throne  of 
Maximilian  is  upheld  by  French  bayonets.  But  that 
is  not  true  in  the  sense  that  it  is  intended.  It  is  true 
that  the  Mexican  empire  is  upheld  by  the  moral 
force  of  France.  Bat  at  any  time  during  the  last 
eighteen  months  it  has  been  within  the  power  of  the 
Mexican  nation  to  expel  Maximilian  and  restore 
Juarez  and  the  republican  government,  if  the  Mexi 
can  people  really  wished  to  do  so.  But  what  have 
they  done?  What  has  this  nation  of  eight  millions 
of  people  done  ?  They  have  seen  Juarez  driven  from 
Mexico  to  San  Luis  Potosi,  from  San  Luis  to  Chihua 
hua,  from  Chihuahua  to  El  Paso  del  Xorte.  From 
fifty  thousand  troops  which  he  had  when  the  French 
began  the  siege  of  Puebla,  his  forces  have  dwindled 
down  to  twenty  thousand,  to  ten  thousand,  to  four 
thousand,  and  at  last  to  a  few  bands  >f  scattered 
guerillas  and  robbers.  Would  the  M'  an  nation 
have  permitted  this  if  they  really  wislit' .  'public? 


176  MEXICO     UXDKR    MAXIMILIAN. 

WHY  HAVE  WE  NOT  ASSISTED   MEXICO? 

It  is  true  they  have  been  disappointed  in  not 
receiving  from  the  United  States  that  assistance  in 
their  struggle  which  they  felt  they  had  a  right  to 
look  for  from  a  powerful  sister  republic,  contiguous 
to  their  own.  Why  was  this?  When  Juarez  fled 
from  Mexico  to  San  Luis,  in  June,  1863,  he  invited 
our  Minister  Mr.  Corwin,  to  go  with  him.  Mr.  Cor- 
win  declined,  and  Mr.  Seward  wrote  to  him  on  the  8th 
of  August,  1863,  that  the  President  approved  of  his 
decision  in  so  declining.  Since  that  time  we  have  not 
even  pretended  to  maintain  any  diplomatic  relations 
with  the  republican  government  of  Mexico  in  4hat 
country.  Appeal  after  appeal  has  been  made  by 
Juarez  for  aid,  but  the  United  States  Government  has 
maintained  a  cold  and  studied  indifference.  On  the 
15th  of  December,  1862,  Mr.  Seward  wrote  to  M. 
Romero :  "  The  United  States  laments  the  war  which 
has  arisen  between  the  republic  of  Mexico  and  France. 
Since  it  has  unhappily  occurred,  however,  they  can 
act  in  regard  to  it  only  on  the  principles  which  have 
always  governed  their  conduct  in  similar  cases."  In 
other  words,  we  would  recognize  the  government  de 
facto,  by  whichever  party  it  might  be  in  the  end 
established.  On  the  26th  of  September,  1863,  Mr. 
Seward  wrote  to  our  Minister  at  the  Austrian  Court : 
"  The  events  which  are  occurring  in  Mexico  are 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN".  177 

regarded  as  incidents  of  the  Avar  between  France  and 
Mexico"  (the  French  were  then  in  possession  of  the 
Mexican  capital,  and  the  crown  had  been  offered  to 
an  Austrian  Prince).  On  the  23d  of  October,  1863, 
Mr.  Seward  -wrote  to  our  minister  in  England  that 
Maximilian  had  declared  his  willingness  to  accept  the 
imperial  throne  in  Mexico  if  he  shall  be  called  to  it  by 
the  voice  of  the  Mexican  nation ;  and  concludes  his 
dispatch  by  saying:  "The  United  States  can  do  no 
otherwise  than  leave  the  destinies  of  Mexico  in  the 
keeping  of  her  own  people,  and  recognize  their 
sovereignty  and  independence  in  whatever  form  they 
themselves  shall  choose  that  this  sovereignty  and 
independence  shall  be  manifested."  On  the  26th  of 
September,  1863,  Mr.  Seward  also  wrote  to  Mr.  Day 
ton  :  "  The  United  States  have  neither  the  right  nor 
the  disposition  to  intervene  by  force,  on  either  side, 
in  the  lamentable  war  which  is  going  on  between 
France  and  Mexico.  They  have  neither  a  right  nor 
a  disposition  to  intervene  by  force  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  Mexico,  .whether  to  establish  or  maintain  a 
republic  or  to  overthrow  an  imperial  government,  if 
Mexico  chooses  to  accept  it." 

OUR     GOVERNMENT    WILL    FINALLY    RECOGNIZE    THE 
EMPIRE. 

These  extracts  from  Mr.  Seward's  dispatches  plainly 
imply  two  things,  as  the  supposition  that  he  has  cor- 


178  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

rectly  expressed  the  views  of  the  government :  1st. 
That  from  the  day  when  the  French  began  the  siege 
of  Puebla,  the  administration  had  determined  to  look 
on  and  see  the  life  squelched  out  of  the  Mexican 
republic,  before  we  would  raise  a  ringer  to  prevent 
it: — and  2d.  That  as  soon  as  Maximilian's  empire  is 
firmly  established,  the  United  States  will  recognize  it, 
as  that  manifestation  of  the  sovereignty  and  indepen 
dence  of  Mexico  which  her  own  people  shall  have 
chosen.  What  then  becomes  of  the  Monroe  doc 
trine  ?  Let  it  rather  be  asked 

WHAT  IS  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  ? 

Is  the  popular  understanding  of  it,  the  correct  one  ? 
Does  it  mean  that  we  must  maintain  a  republic  in 
Mexico,  when  the  Mexicans  themselves  have  submit 
ted  to  the  establishment  of  an  empire  ?  Does  it  mean 
that  we  must  force  a  republic  upon  Mexico,  when 
the  Mexicans  themselves  have  chosen  an  empire  ? 

That  Mexico  has  a  perfect  right  to  choose  her  own 
form  of  government :  — and  that  the  United  Stated  are 
bound  to  recognize  that  government,  whatever  form 
it  may  assume,  whenever  it  becomes  firmly  established, 
are  principles  that  have  always  been  regarded,  recog 
nized,  and  acknowledged,  as  among  the  fundamental 
rules  of  our  national  policy. 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  179 

MUST     WE   ADD     A  GREEN    ELEPHANT     TO   OUR    MEN 
AGERIE  ! 

Now  it  is  certain  that  such  a  state  of  things  as  exists 
in  Mexico  at  the  present  time,  and  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  present  existing  government,  has  never 
existed  in  Mexico  at  any  previous  period  of  her  his 
tory.  What  has  been  the  history  of  Mexico  for  the 
last  fifty  years  ?  Has  it  not  been  a  history  of  continual 
civil  war  and  commotion  ?  Has  not  that  unhappy 
country  been  torn  by  faction,  and  by  the  quarrels  of 
the  different  races  by  which  it  has  been  inhabited,  for 
a  period  far  beyond  the  recollection  of  most  of  my 
readers  ?  Has  not  Mexico  been  dismembered  because 
she  could  never  establish  or  maintain  for  herself  a 
government  of  sufficient  stability  to  pay  her  debts? 
Suppose  our  government  does  demand  the  with 
drawal  of  Maximilian  and  the  demand  is  acceded 
to.  Do  we  wish  to  plunge  Mexico  again  into  her  for 
mer  troubles  and  anarchy  ?  Do  we  wish  to  see  re- 
enacted  the  civil  wars  of  Santa  Anna,  of  Altamont, 
of  Arista,  of  Comonfort,  of  Miramon  and  of  Juarez  ? 
Do  we  wish  to  do  over  again  the  work  that  Maximilian 
has  done  so  well,  and  that  we  are  anxious  to  undo  ? 
Is  not  the  white  elephant  and  the  black  elephant 
that  we  already  have  on  our  hands  quite  as  much 
menagerie  as  we  can  manage?  Must  we  have 


180  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

a  green  elephant   also  ?     Does  the    Monroe  doctrine 
require  this  ? 

TWO   INTERPRETATIONS   OF    THE    DOCTRINE. 

There  are  two  interpretations  to  the  Monroe  doctrine. 
According  to  one,  we  would  be  bound  tore-establish  a 
republican  government  in  Mexico,  even  to  the  extent 
of  going  to  war  against  France,  and  even  if  it  should 
manifestly  appear  that  the  Mexican  people  themselves 
desire,  and  have  chosen  a  monarchy.  It  is  believed 
by  those  who  are  best  informed  on  the  subject,  that 
there  are  few  members  of  Congress  who  hold  this  to 
be  the  true  interpretation  of  the  doctrine.  According 
to  the  other  interpretation  we  are  bound  to  leave  the 
Mexican  people  to  decide  for  themselves  what  form  of 
government  they  prefer,  and  we  are  further  bound  to 
acquiesce  in  that  decision.  I  am  aware  that  this  is  a 
novel  interpretation  of  the  Monroe  doctrine.  But  this 
is  probably  the  interpretation  which  Mr.  Seward  puts 
upon  it,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  view 
will  meet  with  a  warm  support  in  the  next  Congress. 
If  we  insist  upon  the  enforcement  of  the  Monroe  doc 
trine  under  the  first  interpretation,  and  as  it  has  been 
popularly  but  perhaps  erroneously  understood,  we  will 
be  obliged  to  give  up  and  abandon  another,  equally 
cherished,  and  equally  important  principle  of  our 
government.  That,  to  acknowledge  and  recognize 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  181 

the  government  de  facto  whenever  such  a  government 

has  been  established. 


OUR    SETTLED    POLICY    TO    RECOGNIZE    THE    GOVERN 
MENT  DE  FACTO. 

This  principle  has  been  well  settled,  and  has  always 
been  acted  on  by  our  government  without  deviation. 
Oar  ministers  abroad  have  always  been  imperatively 
instructed  to  act  upon  it.  The  diplomatic  correspond 
ence  of  Daniel  Webster,  of  Edward  Everett,  of  Henry 
Clay,  and  of  Lewis  Cass,  when  these  gentlemen  were 
severally  Secretary  of  State,  is  full  of  such  instruc 
tions,  and  abounds  in  illustrations  of  this  principle. 
The  present  Secretary  of  State  has  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  follow  those  illustrious  precedents.  And  he  has 
followed  them.  In  the  case  of  Mexico  he  has  been  par 
ticular  in  instructing  our  ministers  abroad  that  the 
United  States  would  not  interfere  with  what  has  been 
going  on  in  Mexico  during  the  last  four  years,  and 
that  we  would,  in  the  end,  recognize  the  government 
which  should  be  de  facto  established. 

On  the  15th  of  December,  1862,  after  the  French 
army  had  landed  at  Vera  Cruz,  but  before  active  oper 
ations  had  been  commenced,  Mr.  Seward  wrote  to  Mr. 
Eornero:  "The  United  States  deplore  the  war  which 
has  arisen  between  the  republic  of  Mexico  and  France. 
They  are  not,  however,  a  party  to  that  war,  and  they 


182  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

can  act  in  regard  to  it  only  upon  principles  which 
have  always  governed  them  heretofore,  in  similar 
cases."  On  the  llth  of  September,  1863,  after  the  cap 
ture  of  the  City  of  Mexico  by  the  French,  Mr. 
Seward,  in  a  letter  to  our  minister  at  Vienna,  says : 
"  The  United  States  adopted  and  have  maintained 
entire  neutrality  between  the  belligerents,  in  har 
mony  with  the  traditional  policy  in  regard  to  for 
eign  wars."  And  on  the  9th  of  October,  the  same 
year,  he  writes  to  Mr.  Motley,  at.  Vienna:  "The 
United  States  practice,  in  regard  to  Mexico,  in  every 
phase  of  the  war,  the  non-intervention  which  they 
require,"  etc.  And  on  the  23d  of  October,  1863, 
he  wrote  to  our  Minister  to  England:  "The  United 
States,  consistently  with  their  principles,  can  do  no 
otherwise  than  leave  the  destinies  of  Mexico  in  the 
keeping  of  her  own  people,  and  recognize  their  sover 
eignty  and  independence  in  whatever  form  they  them 
selves  shall  choose  that  this  sovereignty  and.  indepen 
dence  shall  be  manifested." 

No  one  can  read  these  extracts  from  Mr.  Seward's 
diplomatic  correspondence,  and  compare  them  with 
what  had  then  taken  place  in  Mexico,  without  being 
convinced  that  it  never  was  the  intention  of  the  pre 
ceding  administration  to  save  the  Mexican  republic 
from  extinction ;  nay,  without  being  convinced  that 
the  preceding  administration  had  foreseen,  from  the 
first,  that  the  Mexican  republic  was  doomed  to  ex- 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  183 

tinction,  and  bad  made  up  their  minds  to  acquiesce  in 
that  extinction.  The  triple  alliance  of  France,  Eng 
land  and  Spain,  against  Mexico,  was  concluded  by  a 
treaty  signed  at  London,  October,  31,  1861,  of  which 
our  government  had  immediate  notice.  Did  our  gov 
ernment  protest  against  this?  Not  at  all.  The  allied 
forces  landed  at  Yera  Cruz  during  the  succeeding 
winter.  Still  no  protest.  On  the  other  hand  our  gov 
ernment  acquiesced  in  the  justice  of  the  war  made  by 
France  against  Mexico,  and  thus  bound  ourselves  to 
recognize  the  government  which  should  be  established 
by  the  successful  belligerent. 

After  a  careful  study  of  Mr.  Seward's  diplomatic 
correspondence,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  he 
clearly  foresaw  that  such  a  government  as  would  be 
established  in  Mexico  by  Napoleon  and  Maximilian 
would  be  gratefully  received  and  eagerly  embraced 
by  the  Mexican  people  ;  and  that  they  themselves,  in 
the  course  of  two  or  three  years,  would  rally  around 
it  and  secure  its  perpetuity.  In  his  dispatch  to  Mr. 
Motley,  our  minister  to  Austria,  October  9,  1863, 
he  says :  "  "War  exists  between  France  and  Mexico. 
The  United  States  has  neither  a  right  nor  any  dispo 
sition  to  intervene  by  force  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
Mexico,  whether  to  establish  or  to  maintain  a  repub 
lican  or  even  a  domestic  government  there,  or  to  over 
throw  an  imperial  or  a  foreign  one,  if  Mexico  shall 
choose  to  establish  or  accept  it."  And,  in  a  dispatch 


184  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 


*  no 

the 


to  Mr.  Dayton,  our  minister  to  France,  on  the  23d  of 
October,  1863,  lie  says:  "The  United  States  can  do 
otherwise  than  leave  the  destinies  of  Mexico  in 
the  keeping  of  her  own  people,  and  recognize  their 
.  sovereignty  and  independence  in  whatever  form  they 
themselves  shall  choose  that  this  sovereignty  and  in 
dependence  shall  be  manifested."  These  are  weighty 
words.  Let  them  be  carefully  examined.  They  can 
bear  only  one  interpretation,  namely,  that  the  United 
'  *  States  has  no  right  to  force,  and  will  not  force,  a 
republic  upon  Mexico,  if  the  Mexican  people  desire  a 
monarchy ;  and  that  the  United  States  must  and  will 
recognize  the  present  government  of  Mexico  as  soon 
as  it  shall  become  apparent  that  it  is  the  choice  of  the 
Mexican  people. 


MEXICO    UNTEll    MAXIMILIAN.  185 


CHAPTER  X. 

What  is  the  Monroe  Doctrine  ? — Is  it  a  Constitutional  Enactment? — Is  it 
an  Irrepealable  Law  ? — Absurdity  of  the  Doctrine — It  has  no  Binding 
Force — Why  it  ought  to  be  Repudiated. 

THE  opposition  to  the  Mexican  empire,  in  the 
United  States,  arises  chiefly  from  an  impression  which 
prevails,  to  the  effect  that  the  present  government  in 
Mexico  has  been  established  in  contravention  of  the 
Monroe  doctrine,  and  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  support  that  doctrine, 
even  to  the  extent  of  destroying  the  government  which 
has  existed  in  Mexico  for  the  last  three  years.  The 
impression  prevails  in  regard  to  the  Monroe  doctrine, 
that,  although  it  is  no  more  than  the  mere  dictum  of 
one  man,  uttered  forty-three  years  ago,  yet  it  consti 
tutes  a  law  of  binding  force  which  there  is  no  power 
in  the  American  people  to  repeal,  which  never  can  be 
repealed ;  which  must  forever  remain  in  full  force ; 
which,  although  given  to  a  former  generation,  must 
be  observed  by  the  present  generation  and  all  subse 
quent  generations ;  and  that  this  doctrine  requires  the 
United  States  to  take  Mexico  under  our  special  protec 
tion,  and  to  force  a  certain  form  of  government  upon 
her,  even  when  her  people  desire  another  form  of  gov- 


186  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

ernment.  The  popular  understanding  of  the  Monroe 
doctrine  is,  that  the  Mexican  people  are  to  be  forever 
debarred  from  the  exercise  of  the  right  enjoyed  by  all 
nations,  of  choosing  their  form  of  government  for 
themselves.  The  popular  understanding  of  the  Mon 
roe  doctrine  is,  that  republicanism  is  the  only  form 
of  government  that  Mexico  can  ever  have,  and  that 
the  United  States  must  force  the  Mexicans  to  have 
that,  and  to  have  no  other  form  of  government. 

What  is  this  Monroe  doctrine  ?  Is  it  a  part  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  which  can  never  be 
amended  ?  No :  it  is  not  a  part  of  the  Constitution. 
Is  it  an  irrepealable  law  ?  Is  it  a  law  passed  by  Con 
gress  and  signed  by  the  President  ?  No :  it  is  not 
even  a  law,  unless  Mr.  Monroe  had  the  individual 
right  to  make  laws.  Was  he  ever  empowered  to 
make  laws  ?  laws,  too,  which  can  never  be  repealed  ? 

In  these  latter  days  we  have  dared  to  lay  our  hands 
upon  the  Constitution ;  to  expunge  from  it  one  article, 
and  to  alter  and  amend  it  in  other  respects.  Is  the 
Monroe  doctrine  something  superior  to  that  sacred 
instrument?  Are  we  to  be  told  that  the  Constitution 
is  nothing ;  that  it  may  be  tinkered  and  patched  at 
pleasure;  but  that  we  are  to  touch  not  the  Monroe 
doctrine  ? 

Let  us  examine,  and  see  what  this  Monroe  doc 
trine  is. 

In   the   first   place,   the   Monroe  doctrine  did  not 


MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  187 

originate  with  Mr.  Monroe.  It  is  of  British  origin. 
It  originated  with  the  eminent  British  statesman, 
Mr.  Canning.  Mr.  Canning  first  suggested  the  ideas 
to  Mr.  Rush,  our  minister  to  England,  Mr.  Rush  wrote 
them  out  and  sent  them  to  John  Quincy  Adams,  our 
Secretary  of  State,  and  Mr.  Adams  communicated 
them  to  Mr.  Monroe,  and  prevailed  upon  him  to 
introduce  them  into  his  message.  Mr.  Buchanan 
gives  all  the  facts,  as  follow  : 

"  The  allied  powers  of  Europe  had  triumphed  over 
Napoleon,  and  had  restored  the  elder  branch  of  the 
Bourbons,  in  the  person  of  Louis  XVIII.  to  the  throne 
of  France.  Emboldened  by  this  success,  Russia,  Aus 
tria,  and  Prussia,  in  1815,  formed  the  holy  alliance. 
To  this  France,  and  nearly  all  the  other  continental 
powers,  soon  afterward  acceded.  Great  Britain,  how 
ever,  stood  aloof  and  refused  to  become  a  party  to  it. 
The  object  of  the  allies  was  to  abolish  liberal  govern 
ments  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  to  maintain  the 
divine  right  of  sovereigns  to  rule  according  to  their 
own  discretion ;  in  short,  to  roll  back  the  tide  of  pro 
gress  toward  free  institutions,  and  to  restore  the  old 
despotisms  as  the}-  had  existed  before  the  French  revo 
lution.  Accordingly  France  was  deputed  to  destroy 
by  force  of  arms,  the  liberal  government  of  the  Cortes 
in  Spain,  and  to  restore  the  implacable  and  bigoted 
Ferdinand  VII.  to  absolute  power.  In  1823,  a  French 
army,  commanded  by  the  Duke  d'Angouleme,  invaded 


183  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

Spain,  and  in  a  single  campaign  accomplished  these 
objects. 

"  In  the  year  before  the  date  of  this  expedition,  the 
government  of  the  United  States  had  formally  ac 
knowledged  the  independence  of  the  different  southern 
republics,  formerly  Spanish  colonies ;  and  an  appropria 
tion  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  had  been  made 
(May  4,  1822,)  by  Congress  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
missions  to  these  '  independent  nations  on  the  Ameri 
can  continent.' 

"  Whilst  the  French  invasion  was  in  successful  pro 
gress,  the  British  government  became  satisfied  that  the 
allies,  after  crushing  the  Spanish  liberals,  intended  to 
employ  their  arms  in  assisting  Ferdinand  VII  to  subju 
gate  what  they  termed  his  rebellious  colonies  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic.  To  such  an  enterprise  Great 
Britain  was  strenuously  opposed,  and  she  resolved  to 
resist  it  If  successful,  this  would  prove  to  be  a  severe 
blow  to  her  trade  in  that  quarter  of  the  world — an  in 
terest  to  which  she  has  ever  been  sensitively  alive. 

"  To  avert  the  impending  danger,  Mr.  Canning,  then 
the  British  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  in  August, 
1823,  proposed  to  Mr.  Hush,  then  the  American  minis 
ter  in  London,  that  the  two  governments  should  im 
mediately  unite  in  publishing  '  a  joint  declaration  before 
Europe,'  manifesting  their  opposition  to  the  policy  and 
purposes  of  the  alliance  in  regard  to  this  continent. 
This  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  recovery  of  the 
colonies  by  Spain  was  hopeless  ;  that  their  recognition 
as  independent  States  was  one  of  time  and  circum- 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  189 

stances  ;  that  the  two  powers  were  not  disposed,  however 
to  interpose  obstacles  in  the  way  to  any  arrangements 
by  amicable  negotiations  between  the  colonies  and 
Spain,  but  that,  whilst  they  aimed  at  the  acquisition  of 
no  portion  of  these  colonies  for  themselves,  they  would 
not  see  the  transfer  of  any  of  them  to  a  third  power 
with  indifference.  Mr.  Canning  also  observed  that  in 
his  opinion  such  a  joint  declaration  by  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  would  alone  prove  sufficient  to 
prevent  the  allies  from  any  forcible  interference  against 
the  former  Spanish  colonies.  For  those  reasons  he 
earnestly  urged  Mr.  Hush  to  become  a  party  to  it  on 
behalf  of  his  government.  Although  Mr.  Rush  had  no 
direct  instructions  to  warrant  him  in  such  an  act,  and 
this  he  had  communicated  to  Mr.  Canning,  }-et  he 
wisely  agreed  to  assume  the  responsibility,  but  upon 
one  express  condition.  This  was  that  the  British 
government  should  first  acknowledge  the  independence 
of  the  American  republics,  as  the  United  States  had 
already  done.  Mr.  Canning,  though  resolved  on  defeat 
ing  the  projects  of  alliance  against  the  republics,  was 
not  prepared  at  the  time  to  take  this  decisive  step,  and 
therefore  the  joint  declaration  was  never  made. 

"Mr.  Bush,  in  his  dispatch  of  September  10,  1823,  to 
Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  then  Secretary  of  State,  com 
municated  to  him  a  lucid  statement'  of  these  negotia 
tions,  with  explanatory  documents.  After  these  had 
been  considered  by  President  Monroe,  he  sent  them, 
with  his  own  views  on  the  subject,  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
asked  his  advice  as  to  the  course  which  ought  to  be 


190  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

pursued  by  the  government  to  ward  off  the  threatened 
danger. 

"Mr.  Jefferson's  answer  is  dated  at  Monticello,  on 
the  24th  of  October,  1823.  It  is  earnest,  enthusiastic, 
and  eloquent,  displaying  in  old  age  the  statesmanlike 
sagacity  and  ardent  patriotism  of  the  author  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  It  foreshadows  and  re 
commends  the  '  Monroe  doctrine'  to  the  fullest  extent. 
From  its  importance  we  quote  it  entire  from  Randall's 
Life  of  Jefferson,  vol.  iii.,  p.  491.  Mr.  Jefferson  sa}^s : 
'  The  question  presented  by  the  letters  you  have  sent 
me  is  the  most  momentous  which  has  ever  been  offered 
to  my  contemplation  since  that  of  independence.  That 
made  us  a  nation  ;  this  sets  our  compass  and  points  the 
course  which  we  are  to  steer  through  the  ocean  of  time 
opening  on  us,  and  never  could  we  embark  on  it  under 
circumstances  more  auspicious.  Our  iirst  fundamental 
maxim  should  be,  never  to  entangle  ourselves  in  the 
broils  of  Europe.  Our  second,  never  to  suffer  Europe 
to  meddle  with  cis-Atlantic  affairs.  America,  North  and 
South,  has  a  set  of  interests  distinct  from  those  of 
Europe,  and  peculiar!}7  her  own.  She  should,  therefore, 
have  a  system  of  her  own,  separate  and  apart  from  that 
of  Europe.  While  the  last  is  laboring  to  become  the 
domicil  of  despotism,  our  endeavor  should  surely  be  to 
make  our  hemisphere  that  of  freedom.  One  nation, 
most  of  all,  could  disturb  us  in  this  pursuit;  she  now 
offers  to  lead,  aid,  and  accompany  us  in  it.  By  acceding 
to  our  proposition  we  detach  her  from  the  bands  of 
despots,  bring  her  mighty  weight  into  the  scale  of  free 


MEXICO    UXDKR    MAXIMILIAN.  191 

government,  and  emancipate  a  continent  at  one  stroke, 
which  might  otherwise  linger  long  in  doubt  and  difficulty. 
Great  Britain  is  the  nation  which  can  do  us  the  most 
harm  of  any  one,  or  all  on  earth ;  and  with  her  on  our 
side,  we  need  not  fear  the  whole  world.  With  her,  then, 
we  should  most  seriously  cherish  a  cordial  friendship, 
and  nothing  would  tend  more  to  unite  our  affections 
than  to  be  fighting  once  more  side  by  side  in  the  same 
cause.  Not  that  I  would  purchase  even  her  amity  at 
the  price  of  taking  part  in  her  wars.  But  the  war  in 
which  the  present  proposition  might  engage  us,  should 
that  be  its  consequence,  is  not  her  war,  but  ours.  Its 
object  is  to  introduce  and  establish  the  American  sys 
tem  of  keeping  out  of  our  land  all  foreign  powers,  of 
never  permitting  those  of  Europe  to  intermeddle  with 
the  affairs  of  our  nations.  It  is  to  maintain  our  own 
principle,  not  to  depart  from  it ;  and  if,  to  facilitate  this, 
we  can  effect  a  division  in  the  body  of  the  European 
powers,  and  draw  over  to  our  side  its  most  powerful 
member,  surely  we  should  do  it.  But  I  am  clearly  of 
Mr.  Canning's  opinion,  that  it  will  prevent  instead  of 
provoke  war.  With  Great  Britain  withdrawn  from  their 
scale  and  shifted  into  that  of  our  two  continents,  all 
Europe  combined  would  not  undertake  such  a  war. 
For  how  would  they  propose  to  get  at  either  enemy 
without  superior  fleets?  Xor  is  the  occasion  to  be 
slighted  which  this  proposition  offers  of  declaring  our 
protest  against  the  atrocious  violations  of  the  rights  of 
nations  by  the  interference  of  any  one  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  another  so  flagitiously  begun  by  Bonaparte, 


192  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

and  now  continued  by  the  equally  lawless  alliance  call 
ing  itself  holy. 

" '  But  we  have  first  to  ask  ourselves  a  question :  Do 
we  wish  to  acquire  to  our  own  confederacy  any  one  or 
more  of  the  Spanish  provinces  ?  I  candidly  confess 
that  I  have  ever  looked  on  Cuba  as  the  most  interesting 
addition  that  could  ever  be  made  to  our  system  of 
States.  The  control  which,  with  Florida  Point,  this 
island  would  give  us  over  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the 
countries  and  isthmus  bordering  thereon,  would  fill  up 
the  measure  of  our  political  well-being.  Yet  as  I  am 
sensible  that  this  can  never  be  obtained,  even  with  her 
own  consent,  but  by  war,  and  its  independence,  which  is 
our  second  interest  (and  especially  its  independence  of 
England),  can  be  secured  without  it,  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  abandoning  my  first  wish  to  future  chances,  and 
accepting  its  independence,  with  peace  and  the  friend 
ship  of  England,  rather  than  its  association  at  the  ex 
pense  of  war  and  her  enmity. 

"  '  I  could  honestly,  therefore,  join  in  the  declaration 
proposed  :  that  we  aim  not  at  the  acquisition  of  any  of 
those  possessions  ;  that  we  will  not  stand  in  the  way  of 
any  amicable  arrangement  between  them  and  the  mother 
country ;  but  that  we  will  oppose,  with  all  our  means, 
the  forcible  interposition  of  any  other  power  as  auxili 
ary,  stipendiary,  or  under  any  pretext,  and  most  espe 
cially  their  transfer  to  any  other  power  by  conquest, 
cession,  or  acquisition  in  any  other  way.  I  should  think 
it  advisable,  therefore,  that  the  Executive  should  encour 
age  the  British  government  to  a  continuance  in  the 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  193 

dispositions  expressed  in  these  letters,  by  an  assurance 
of  his  concurrence  with  them  as  far  as  his  authorit^y 
goes ;  and  that,  as  it  may  lead  to  war,  the  declaration 
of  which  requires  an  act  of  Congress,  the  case  shall  be 
laid  before  them  for  consideration,  at  their  first  meeting, 
and  under  the  reasonable  aspect  in  which  it  is  seen  by 
himself. 

"  '  I  have  been  so  long  weaned  from  political  subjects, 
and  have  so  long  ceased  to  take  any  interest  in  them, 
that  I  am  sensible  I  am  not  qualified  to  offer  opinions 
on  them  worthy  of  any  attention.  But  the  question 
now  proposed  involves  consequences  so  lasting,  and 
effects  so  decisive  of  our  future  destinies,  as  to  rekindle 
all  the  interest  I  have  heretofore  felt  on  such  occasions, 
and  to  induce  me  to  the  hazard  of  opinions  which  will 
prove  only  my  wish  to  contribute  still  my  mite  toward 
any  thing  which  may  be  useful  to  our  country.  And, 
praying  you  to  accept  it  only  at  what  it  is  worth,  I  add 
the  assurance  of  my  constant  and  affectionate  friendship 
and  respect.' 

"  President  Monroe,  thus  fortified  by  the  support  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  proceeded  to  announce  in  his  seventh 
annual  message  to  Congress,  of  December  2,  1823,  the 
now  celebrated  'Monroe  doctrine.'  This  summed  up  in 
his  assertion,  '  as  a  principle  in  which  the  rights  and  in 
terests  of  the  United  States  are  involved,  that  the  two 
American  continents,  by  the  free  and  independent  condi 
tion  they  have  assumed  and  maintained,  are  henceforth 
not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization 

by  any  European  powers.'  " 
13 


194  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

It  is  from  tlio  above  modest  dimension  that  the 
Monroe  doctrine  of  the  present  day  has  grown,  and  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  Monroe  himself  would  fail  to 
recognize  his  offspring  in  its  gigantic  proportions  of 
to-day.  Mr.  Monroe  speaks  of  certain  independent 
governments.  He  says  that  no  European  power  must 
oppress  them,  nor  control  their  destiny  in  any  other 
manner.  He  says  that  the  two  American  continents 
are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for 
future  colonization  by  any  European  power.  He  does 
not  say  that  we  will  go  to  war  to  vindicate  this  doc 
trine.  But  he  merely  says  that  a  violation  of  these 
principles  will  be  regarded  as  the  manifestation  of  an 
unfriendly  spirit  toward  us. 

That  is  all. 

HAS   MAXIMILIAN   VIOLATED  THE   MONROE  DOCTRINE? 

Now  apply  these  principles  to  Mexico.  Have  they 
been  violated  by  Napoleon  and  Maximilian  ?  Are  the 
Mexicans  " oppressed"  by  the  imperial  government; 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  have  they  been  delivered  from 
oppression  ? 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  evident  that  the  Monroe 
doctrine  was  put  forth  with  reference  to  a  certain 
state  of  things  existing  at  that  time,  and  chiefly  be 
cause  the  English  government  desired  it.  The  com 
mercial  supremacy  of  England  was  threatened  with 
a  certain  danger.  The  interests  of  England  and  those 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  195 

of  the  United  States  happened  to  be  identical  at  the 
time,  and  Mr.  Canning  had  no  difficulty  in  persuading 
our  government  to  take  the  ground  that  he  desired, 
and  which  ground,  taken  by  us,  would  and  did  avert 
from  England  the  threatened  danger.  The  idea  run 
ning  through  the  whole  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  letter  is 
plainly  seen  to  be,  a  virtual  alliance  with  England,  in 
order  to  break  up  certain  designs  of  some  of  the  other 
European  nations.  Mr.  Jefferson  says  we  must  never 
suffer  Europe  to  meddle  with  cis-Atlantic  affairs.  Mr. 
Monroe  does  not  go  so  far  as  that.  Indeed,  that 
doctrine  would  carry  us  far  beyond  our  strength, 
great  as  that  is.  If  "Europe  "  once  made  up  its  mind 
to  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  any  nation  in  America 
except  ours,  we  should  be  compelled  either  to  permit 
such  interference,  or  else  to  risk  our  own  nationality 
in  a  war  with  the  great  European  powers. 

How  absurd  it  is  in  the  American  people  to  fancy 
that  Mr.  Monroe  could  make  a  "doctrine"  which 
should  constitute  an  irrepealable  law  to  all  future  gen 
erations  !  Suppose  Mr.  Monroe  had  enunciated  certain 
dogmas  about  commerce  or  about  finance,  sound  at 
that  time,  but  which  the  experience  of  forty  years  has 
proved  erroneous,  would  we  be  foolish  enough  to  ad 
here  to  such  financial  or  commercial  errors  now,  mere 
ly  because  they  had  been  doctrines  of  Mr.  Monroe  ? 
Most  certainly  not.  Would  we  not  have  the  right  to 
repudiate  them  now  ? 


196  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

Suppose  we  should  change  the  form  of  our  own 
government,  and  choose  a  monarchy  ?  The  event  is 
not  impossible.  All  the  republics  that  ever  existed 
in  the  world,  the  republics  of  Greece,  the  republics  of 
Kome,  and  the  republics  of  modern  times,  have  all 
fallen,  and  each  one  has  been  succeeded  by  a  monarchy. 
What  reason  have  we  to  suppose  that  our  republic  will 
prove  an  exception?  The  decline  of  constitutional 
liberty  in  America  has  already  commenced.  Com 
menced  !  did  I  say  ?  It  commenced  in  1848  and  1850, 
when  the  Northern  States  refused  to  perform  their  con 
stitutional  obligations  toward  the  South :  and  it  has 
been  progressing  with  frightful  velocity  during  the 
last  six  years.  What  kind  of  republican  government 
is  enjoyed  in  Maryland  and  Missouri,  where  two  thirds 
of  the  citizens  are  disfranchised,  and  those  the  oldest 
and  most  respected  citizens  of  those  States  ?  What 
kind  of  a  republican  government  is  that  in  Missouri, 
where,  until  the  14th  day  of  January,  1867,  a  clergy 
man  could  not  preach  nor  perform  any  of  the  holy 
offices  of  religion,  without  first  taking  an  iron-clad 
test-oath — an  oath  repugnant  to  the  conscience  of 
every  Christian,  and  which  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  lias  pronounced  to  be  entirely  illegal 
and  unconstitutional  ?  What  kind  of  republican 
government  is  that  enjoyed  by  the  ten  Southern  States, 
with  their  representatives  excluded  from  Congress, 


MEXICO    UNDKH    MAXIMILIAN.  197 

and  with  every  prospect  of  negro  suffrage  "being  forced 
upon  them  ?  ^ 

Would  it  not  be  well  for  us  to  settle  among  our 
selves  what  republican  government  is,  before  we 
insist  upon  forcing  it  upon  the  Mexicans  who  detest 
it  in  any  form  ?  Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens  says,  in  his 
place  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  Pennsyl 
vania  is  not  a  republic,  and  never  has  been.  Mr. 
Thaddeus  Stevens  proclaims  that  the  United  States  has 
not  now,  and  never  has  had,  a  republican  form  of 
government.  We  are  to  force  upon  Mexico  therefore, 
not  the  kind  of  a  government  that  we  have  enjoyed 
during  the  whole  period  of  our  national  existence, 
and  under  which  we  became,  until  1800,  such  a  pros 
perous,  happy,  and  powerful  nation,  but  some  other 
kind  of  a  government,  which  the  radical  politicians 
now  in  powrer,  fancy  to  be  a  republic.  According  to 
Thaddeus  Stevens  and  Charles  Sumner,  a  republic  is  a 
government  where  thirty-six  States  are  governed  by 
twenty-five,  and  where  the  twenty-five  force  upon  the 
other  eleven  institutions  which  are  repugnant  to  them. 

The  Hon.  Mr.  Doolittle,  Senator  of  the  United 
States,  in  a  speech,  recently  delivered  at  Philadelphia, 
said : — 

"  Our  fathers  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
you  remember,  declared,  '  we  will  hold  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  as  we  do  the  rest  of  mankind,  enemies  in 
war,  in  peace  friends.'  Fellow-citizens,  is  it  the  best 


198  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

way  to  make  peace  to  say  to  these  ten  States,  with  six 
or  eight  millions  of  people,  covering  a  country  as  large 
as  England  and  France  and  Italy  and  Germany  all  put 
together :  '  You  shall  have  110  representatives  in  Con 
gress  ;  you  shall  have  taxation  without  representation  ; 
we  will  tax  you  by  millions ;  we  will  govern  you  by  the 
representatives  of  the  twenty-six  other  States ;  you 
shall  have  no  voice  in  the  government  that  taxes  and 
governs  you  ?'  Is  that  the  way  to  make  peace  ? 
Fellow-citizens,  I  say  most  solemnly  we  have  never 
given  to  that  people  an}'  just  cause  for  revolution  or 
rebellion  against  the  government  of  the  United  States ; 
but  if  we  continue  to  do  as  this  majority  in  Congress 
has  during  the  last  year,  deny  to  that  people  the  right 
of  representation,  tax  them  without  representation, 
govern  them,  and  give  them  no  voice  in  the  government 
we  shall  give  to  them  the  same  cause  for  rebellion  and 
revolution  which  our  fathers  had  for  rebelling  against 
Great  Britain.  I  ask  you,  fellow-citizens,  is  that  the 
way  to  make  peace  ?  Is  that  the  way  to  restore  fra 
ternity?  Is  that  the  way  to  re-establish  the  Union? 
God  forbid." 

But  if  Mr.  Monroe  had.1i  "doctrine,"  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  one  too.  Mr.  Jefferson's  doctrine  was, 'that  each 
one  of  the  States  is  sovereign,  and  that  a  State  has  a 
right  to  secede  from  the  Union.  If  Mr.  Monroe's 
doctrine  is  sound,  and  of  binding  force,  why  not  that 
of  Mr.  Jefferson's  ? 


MEXICO    UXDER    MAXIMILIAN.  199 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Policy  of  the  Emperor  Xapoleon  toward  Mexico — Objects  of  the  French 
Expedition — The  Emperor  Xever  Intended  the  French  Troops  to  Remain 
Long  in  Mexico — The  Arrangements  for  the  Withdrawal  of  the  French 
Troops  were  not  made  until  the  Stability  of  the  Empire  was  Secured — 
Detailed  Exposition,  by  the  French  Government,  of  the  Objects  and 
Purposes  of  the  Emperor  Xapoleon — Principles  upon  which  the  Mexican 
Empire  was  Established — Why  it  is  Supported  by  Xapoleon — The 
Xegotiations  between  France  and  the  United  States  for  the  Withdrawal 
of  the  French  Troops — France  Desires  a  Guarantee  of  Xeutrality  on 
the  Part  of  the  United  States — Mr.  Seward  Gives  the  Guarantee  of 
Xeutrality. 

IT  has  been  made  an  objection  to  the  Mexican 
empire,  that  it  was  not  only  established  by  a  French 
army,  but  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Emperor  to 
keep  it  supported  by  a  French  army.  I  have  already 
shown  that  the  empire  was  established  by  the  Mexican 
people  themselves.  I  shall  now  produce  some  facts 
which  will  show  the  groundlessness  of  the  latter 
objection.  I  shall  prove  that  the  Emperor  Xapoleon 
alwa}Ts  intended  that  the  French  expedition  should  be 
brought  to  as  speedy  a  termination  as  possible,  and 
that  the  French  troops  should  return  to  France  as 
soon  as  they  had  afforded  to  the  Mexican  people  the 
necessary  aid  to  enable  them  to  establish  their  govern 
ment.  In  his  instructions  to  General  Bazaine,  August 


200  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

17,  1863,  he  says:  "The  reorganization  of  the  Mexi 
can  army  is  one  of  the  most  important  questions 
which  should  occupy  your  attention  and  that  of  the 
provisional  government.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  Minis 
ter  of  War  to  transmit  special  instructions  to  you  on 
this  point.  I  will  confine  myself  to  saying  that  the 
desire  of  the  French  government  being  to  restrict,  as 
promptly  as  circumstances  will  permit,  the  extent  and 
duration  of  our  occupation,  it  is  essential  that  this 
reorganization  should  be  pushed  forward  with  all 
possible  activity." 

On  the  17th  of  August  1865,  the  French  govern 
ment  wrote  to  the  Marquis  de  Montholon,  French 
Minister  at  Washington,  "We  have  already  with 
drawn  some  of  our  troops  from  Mexico,  and  we  shall 
recall  them  all  gradually,  according  to  the  re-establish 
ment  of  order  and  the  pacification  of  the  country. 
We  look  forward  with  the  sincerest  wishes  to  the  day 
when  the  last  French  soldier  shall  quit  Mexico." 

On  the  18th  of  October,  1865,  the  French  govern 
ment  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Marquis  de  Montho 
lon  : — 

''MONSIEUR  DROUYN  DE  LHUYS  TO  THE  MARQUIS 
DE  MONTHOLON. — (Confidential.) 

"  [Translation.] 
"MlNISTRE   DES   AFFAIRES    ElRANGERES, 

"PARIS,  October  18,  1865. 

"  MONSIEUR  LE  MARQUIS  : — I  have  taken  several 
occasions  since  two  months  to  advise  you  of  the  dis- 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  201 

positions  of  the  Imperial  government  concerning  the 
duration  of  the  occupation  of  Mexico  by  the  French 
troops.  I  told  yon,  in  my  despatch  of  August  It,  that 
we  called  with  our  most  sincere  wishes  for  the  day 
when  the  last  French  soldier  should  leave  the  country 
and  that  the  Cabinet  of  Washington  could  contribute 
to  hasten  that  moment.  On  the  2d  of  September  I 
renewed  to  }~ou  the  assurance  of  our  strong  desire  to 
withdraw  our  auxiliary  corps  so  soon  as  circumstances 
should  allow  it." 

On  the  10th  of  January,  1866,  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys, 
the  French  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
handed  to  Mr.  Bigelow  a  memorandum  in  writing, 
which  says : 

"  [Translation. — Memorandum.] 

"  The  "Washington  Cabinet  recognizes  the  right  which 
we  have,  like  any  sovereign  nation,  to  make  war  on 
Mexico.  On  our  side  we  desire  to  observe  the  principle 
of  non-intervention.  Does  not  the  approximating  of 
these  two  points  offer  the  basis  of  a  common  under 
standing  ? 

"  To  make  war  is  not  only  to  overthrow  fortifications 
and  kill  a  certain  number  of  men,  it  is  especially  to 
assure  a  right  infringed  upon,  the  vindication  of  which 
has  rendered  necessary  the  employment  of  arms.  Until 
this  end  is  fully  attained,  the  means  of  execution  inci 
dent  to  war  remain  legitimate.  In  Mexico  we  hope  to 
obtain  before  long  the  guarantees  which  we  have  sought 


202  MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

and  which  are  to  complete  our  final  arrangements  with 
the  Emperor  Maximilian.  At  that  moment  the  mission 
of  our  troops  will  be  accomplished,  and  they  can  return 
to  France." 

The  public  mind  in  the  United  States  has  been  con 
fused  and  perplexed  in  regard  to  the  Mexican  ques 
tion,  and  has  been  led  to  form  wrong  conclusions  as 
to  what  national  honor  and  our  national  interests  re 
quire  of  us,  in  regard  to  its  settlement.  The  idea  has 
been  put  prominently  forward,  that  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  regrets  what  he  has  done  in  Mexico ;  that 
it  was  a  great  mistake  on  his  part ;  that  he  is  anxious 
to  wash  his  hands  of  the  whole  affair ;  and  that  he 
withdraws  the  French  troops  from  Mexico  in  order  to 
leave  Maximilian  to  his  fate,  and  because  he  believes 
that  the  empire  in  Mexico  cannot  stand  without 
French  bayonets :  a  support  which  he  finds  to  be  too 
costly  for  him  longer  to  afford.  This  idea  is  radically 
erroneous. 

OBJECTS   OF    THE    FRENCH   EXPEDITION. 

Napoleon  organized  the  expedition  to  Mexico  with 
certain  objects  in  view.  These  objects  were,  in  brief, 
first,  to  deliver  the  Mexican  people  from  that  condi 
tion  of  anarchy  and  helplessness  under  which  they 
had  groaned  for  forty  years,  deluded  by  the  name  of 
a  republic,  but  which  was  a  republic  only  in  name ; 
second,  to  offer  to  the  Mexican  nation  a  government 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  203 

whose  stability  should  be  guaranteed  by  the  great 
powers  of  Europe,  and  which  should  secure  to  the 
Mexican  people  as  perfect  and  the  same  liberty  that 
is  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  England,  France,  or  any 
other  well  regulated,  constitutional  monarchy,  and  all 
the  other  blessings  of  a  good  and  stable  government ; 
third,  to  inaugurate  and  set  on  foot  measures  for  the 
development  of  the  vast  and  inexhaustible  mineral 
resources  and  agricultural  wealth  of  Mexico ;  fourth, 
to  give  to  Mexico  those  facilities  for  transportation,  in 
the  shape  of  railroads,  which  would  enable  her  to 
enjoy  her  full  share  of  the  great  carrying  trade  be 
tween  Europe  and  the  East  Indies. 

THESE   OBJECTS   HAVE   BEEN    FULLY   ACCOMPLISHED. 

These  objects  are  now  regarded  by  Napoleon  as 
having  been  accomplished.  The  government  which 
Napoleon  offered  to  the  Mexican  people  was  accepted 
by  them,  first  by  the  Assembly  of  Notables,  and  after 
ward  by  the  cheerful  acquiescence  of  four  fifths  of  the 
Mexican  people.  No  one  who  is  well  informed  on 
Mexican  affairs  disputes  this,  nor  can  it  be  denied 
that  four  fifths  of  the  Mexican  people  are  ardently  at 
tached  to  Maximilian's  government,  and  sincerely 
desire  its  continuance.  The  stability  and  perpetuity 
of  this  government  is  beside  guaranteed  by  the  stipu 
lations  of  a  treaty  between  France,  Austria.  Belgium 
and  Maximilian. 


201  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

The  Emperor  Napoleon  therefore,  can  not  only 
look  with  pride  upon  his  work,  but  he  can  leave  it, 
and  withdraw  the  French  troops,  with  the  full  know 
ledge  that  the  Mexican  people  themselves  will  sustain 
the  empire,  the  government  of  their  own  choice.  In 
establishing  this  government,  Napoleon  was  no  doubt 
moved  by  a  laudable  and  honorable  ambition.  Hav 
ing  established  it,  therefore,  upon  a  firm  and  durable 
basis,  his  first  care  was  to  secure  its  permanence  and 
stability.  He  knew  that  it  would  be  vain  to  look  for 
its  recognition  by  the  United  States,  until  its  ability 
to  sustain  itself  had  been  demonstrated.  He  took 
pains  to  provide  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  therefore, 
with  able  and  experienced  officers  for  every  depart 
ment  of  his  government,  civil  as  well  as  military ; 
and,  second,  to  make  such  treaties  with  the  great 
powers  of  Europe  as  should  secure  the  end  he  had  in 
view.  By  the  means  alluded  to  under  the  first  head, 
the  internal  administration  of  affairs  in  Mexico  for  the 
last  two  years,  has  been  such  as  to  make  that  country 
prosperous  and  its  people  happy  and  contented,  a  con 
dition  which  Mexico  has  not  enjoyed  before  for  forty 
years  past.  Its  finances  although  not  in  a  perfectly 
satisfactory  condition,  are  in  a  far  better  state  than 
ever  before ;  trade  and  commerce  are  flourishing  to  an 
extraordinary  degree  and  are  rapidly  increasing ;  the 
revenues  of  the  country  are  steadily  increasing ;  the 
people  are  actively  engaged  in  all  the  avocations  of 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  205 

industry  ;  and  the  vast  agricultural  and  mineral  re 
sources  of  Mexico  are  being  developed  to  an  extent 
never  before  dreamed  of.  Satisfactory  progress  has 
been  made  in  the  construction  of  the  great  railroad 
from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  capital;  schools  and  academies 
are  in  successful  operation,  and  the  Mexico  of  to-day 
is  far  more  like  the  United  States  than  the  Mexico  of 
five  years  ago. 

HOW   THESE    OBJECTS   WERE    ACCOMPLISHED. 

This  state  of  things  has  been  brought  about  mainly 
by  the  active  exertions  of  the  officers,  civil  and  mili 
tary,  who  have  been  supplied  by  the  French  Govern 
ment,  acting  under  the  immediate  and  personal  super 
vision  of  Maximilian  and  the  Empress  Carlotta. 

These  are  the  facts  to  which  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
could  point,  if  the  United  States,  not  satisfied  with  the 
withdrawal  of  the  French  troops,  were  to  request  him 
to  withdraw  from  Maximilian  the  moral  support  of 
the  French  government  also.  He  could  say  in  sub 
stance  to  Mr.  Seward: — "Excuse  me,  sir,  if  I  decline 
your  polite  invitation.  My  movements  in  Mexico 
were  conducted  with  great  deliberation,  and  in  the 
sight  of  the  whole  world.  I  waited  a  whole  year,  to 
see  if  you  would  interpose  in  behalf  of  your  Monroe 
doctrine.  Instead  of  doing  so,  you  said  that  you  did 
not  see  a  struggling,  dying  republic  in  Mexico,  but 
that  you  saw  there  two  belligerent  parties,  and  that 


206  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

you  would  look  on,  and  see  us  fight  it  out  on  that 
line.  Well,  sir,  we  have  done  so.  I  found  Mexico 
torn  with  civil  commotions,  a  prey  to  faction,  and 
deeply  in  debt  to  the  citizens  of  France.  You  had 
refused  to  help  her  to  maintain  a  republican  govern 
ment.  I  have  given  her  a  government  which  holds 
out  the  prospect  of  stability.  Under  the  government 
of  Maximilian,  Mexico  can  now  become  a  happy  and 
prosperous  nation." 

The  whole  history  of  the  Emperor  of  France,  and  a 
careful  study  of  his  character,  shows  him  to  be  a  man 
of  remarkable  foresight  and  sagacity ;  a  man  who 
never  undertook  any  enterprise  hastily;  a  man  who 
has  seldom  or  never  failed  in  any  public  enterprise 
that  he  has  once  embraced.  He  is  irrevocably 
committed,  to  support  the  empire  in  Mexico.  If  he 
regards  the  establishment  of  a  good  government  in 
that  country,  and  the  deliverance  of  the  Mexican 
nation  from  its  former  condition  of  anarchy  and  weak 
ness,  as  one  of  the  greatest  acts  of  his  reign,  and  as 
one  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  modern  times, 
what  candid  and  intelligent  person  will  deny  that  it  is 
so  ?  Will  not  history  so  record  it  ? 

If  it  be  asked,  "  Why  then,  does  Napoleon  withdraw 
his  troops  from.  Mexico?"  this  is  the  answer:  because 
they  are  no  longer  needed  there.  The  object  for 
which  they  were  sent  there,  has  been  fully  accom 
plished.  They  have  remained  in  Mexico  until  the 


MEXICO     UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  207 

government  of  the  empire  is  firmly  established,  and 
until  their  presence  is  no  longer  required  to  give 
stability  to  that  government.  When  the  last  squadron 
of  those  troops  shall  have  embarked  at  Yera  Cruz, 
they  will  leave  behind  them  an  army  of  forty  thou 
sand  native  Mexican  troops,  and  French  and  Austrian 
volunteers,  all  veteran  soldiers,  well  armed,  admirably 
disciplined,  and  commanded  by  French  and  Austrian 
officers.  The  arrangements  for  the  substitution  of 
this  Mexican  army  for  the  French  troops,  have  been 
quietly  made  by  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  during  the 
whole  of  the  year  1866. 

AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND 

FRANCE. 

But  it  may  be  well  to  remember  that  certain  nego 
tiations  between  our  government  and  that  of  France 
preceded  the  announcement  by  Napoleon  of  his  inten 
tion  to  withdraw  the  French  troops.  In  the  first 
place,  Xapoleon  sought  to  know  whether,  in  case  those 
troops  were  withdrawn,  the  United  States  would  con 
tinue  to  maintain  their  policy  of  neutrality  and  non 
intervention  toward  Mexico  ?  On  the  12th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1866,  Mr.  Seward  gives  a  plain  and  direct 
answer  to  this  question.  In  his  dispatch  of  that 
date  to  the  Marquis  de  Month olon,  he  assures  the 
French  government  that,  in  case  the  French  troops 
are  withdrawn  from.  Mexico,  the  United  States  will 
continue  to  maintain  our  policy  of  neutrality  and 


208  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

non-intervention  toward  Mexico.  This  was  all  that 
Napoleon  desired,  for  he  immediately  rejoined,  that 
that  assurance  was  perfectly  satisfactory  to  him  ;  and 
on  the  5th  of  April,  1866,  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  wrote 
to  the  French  minister  here,  and  desired  him  to  con 
vey  to  the  United  States  government  the  information 
that,  depending  upon  that  pledge  of  neutrality  upon 
our  part,  the  French  troops  would  be  withdrawn  from 
Mexico  in  detachments.  Substantially,  therefore,  the 
withdrawal  of  the  French  troops  from  Mexico  is  to 
take  place  in  pursuance  of  a  solemn  agreement  be 
tween  France  and  the  United  States,  by  which  we  are 
bound,  by  every  principle  of  honor,  to  continue  to 
maintain  our  policy  of  neutrality  toward  Mexico. 

But  the  policy  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  may  be 
found  clearly  set  forth  in  his  own  language,  and  in 
the  State  papers  of  the  French  foreign  office.  His 
instructions  to  General  Forey,  of  July  3,  1862,  and  to 
General  Bazaine,  August  17,  1863,  are  worthy  of  the 
most  careful  attention  of  the  reader.  They  will  be 
found  on  pages  37  and  49. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1866,  the  French  government 
wrote  to  the  French  minister  at  Washington,  as  follow : 

"  THE  MINISTER  or  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  TO  THE  FRENCH 
MINISTER  AT  WASHINGTON. 

11  PARIS,  $th  of  January,  1866. 

"  M.  LE  MARQUIS  : — I  had  desired  yon,  by  the  Empe 
ror's  order,  to  make  known  to  the  cabinet  of  Washing- 


MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN.  209 

ton  the  views  of  his  majesty's  government  upon  the 
affairs  of  Mexico,  and  conformably  to  my  instructions 
you  have  brought  to  Mr.  Seward's  knowledge  the  dis 
patch  I  had  the  honor  to  forward  you  on  the  18th  of 
October.  The  Secretary  of  State  replied  to  that  dis 
patch  by  a  communication  he  was  good  enough  to 
address  to  you  on  the  6th  of  December,  of  which  I 
think  it  advisable  to  recapitulate  here  the  principal 
points. 

"  According  to  Mr.  Seward,  the  presence  of  a  foreign 
force  in  a  country  adjacent  to  the  Union  cannot  but 
be  a  cause  of  uneasiness  and  disquiet.  This  state 
of  things  entails  upon  the  Federal  governnment  in 
convenient  expenses,  and  may  bring  about  collisions. 
The  chief  reason  for  the  displeasure  of  the  United 
States,  however,  is  not  the  fact  of  there  being  a  foreign 
army  in  Mexico,  still  less  that  the  army  is  French. 
The  cabinet  of  Washington  recognizes  the  right  of 
every  sovereign  nation  to  make  war,  provided  the  exer 
cise  of  that  right  does  not  threaten  the  security  and 
legitimate  influence  of  the  Union.  But  the  French 
army  has  gone  to  Mexico  to  overthrow  a  national 
republican  government,  and  with  the  avowed  object  of 
establishing  upon  the  ruins  a  foreign  monarchical  gov 
ernment.  Mr.  Seward  sets  forth  in  this  respect  how 
much  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  attached  to 
the  institutions  they  have  adopted,  and  repudiating  all 
ideas  of  propagandism  in  favor  of  those  institutions,  he 
claims  for  the  various  peoples  of  the  Xew  World,  the 

right  of  securing  to  themselves  this  form  of  government 
14 


210  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

according  to  their  convenience.  He  would  considei 
it  inadmissible  that  European  powers  should  inter 
vene  in  those  countries  with  the  idea  of  destroying 
the  republican  form  to  substitute  kingdoms  and  empires 
in  its  stead. 

"'Having  thus  frankly  defined  our  position,'  adds 
Mr.  Seward,  '  I  submit  the  question  to  the  judgment  of 
France,  while  sincerely  wishing  that  great  nation  may 
find  it  compatible  with  its  true  interests  and  its  high 
honor  to  abandon  the  aggressive  attitude  it  has  taken 
up  in  Mexico. ' 

11  In  concluding,  Mr.  Seward  recalls,  as  a  reason  for 
his  hope  of  arriving  at  a  happy  solution,  the  ancient 
affection  of  the  United  States  for  France,  and  the  value 
every  American  citizen  has  always  attached  to  our 
friendship  in  past  times,  and  continues  to  attach,  to  it 
in  future. 

"  I  have  not  failed  to  submit  this  communication  to 
the  Emperor,  and  after  having  maturely  examined  the 
considerations  laid  down  by  Mr.  Seward,  his  majesty's 
government  remains  convinced  that  the  divergence  of 
views  between  the  two  cabinets  is,  above  all,  the  result 
of  an  erroneous  appreciation  of  our  intentions. 

"  Our  expedition,  I  need  hardly  say,  was  not  intended 
as  hostile  to  the  peoples  of  the  New  World,  and  as 
suredly  still  less  to  those  of  the  Union.  France  cannot 
forget  that  she  has  contributed  to  establish  them  with 
her  blood,  and  among  the  number  of  glorious  recol 
lections  the  old  monarchy  bequeathed  to  us,  there  was 
not  one  of  which  Napoleon  I.  was  prouder,  and  which 


MEXICO    UNDEK     MAXIMILIAN.  211 

Napoleon  III.  is  less  disposed  to  repudiate.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  had  been  actuated  by  an  idea  of  ill-will 
toward  that  republic,  would  we  have  endeavored  from 
the  beginning  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  the  Federal 
government,  which,  like  ourselves,  had  claims  to  ad 
vance  ?  Would  we  have  observed  neutrality  in  the 
great  crisis  the  United  States  have  passed  through? 
And  now  would  we  be  disposed,  as  we  declare  with  the 
greatest  frankness,  to  hasten  as  much  as  may  be  possi 
ble  the  time  of  recalling  our  troops  ? 

"  Our  only  object  has  been  to  claim  the  satisfaction 
to  which  we  had  a  right,  by  resorting  to  coercive 
measures  after  having  exhausted  all  others.  It  is 
known  how  numerous  and  legitimate  were  the  demands 
of  French  subjects.  We  took  up  arms  in  presence  of 
a  series  of  flagrant  injuries,  and  striking  denials  of 
justice.  The  complaints  of  the  United  States  were 
certainly  less  numerous  and  less  important,  when  they 
too  were  induced,  some  years  ago,  to  employ  force 
against  Mexico. 

"  The  French  army  did  not  bring  monarchical  tra 
ditions  upon  Mexican  soil  in  the  folds  of  its  flag.  The 
cabinet  of  Washington  is  not  unaware  that  there  have 
been  for  a  certain  number  of  years  a  considerable  group 
of  men  in  that  country  who,  despairing  of  finding  order 
under  the  conditions  of  the  system  then  existing, 
cherished  the  idea  of  returning  to  monarchy.  Their 
opinions  had  been  shared  by  one  of  the  late  Presidents 
of  that  republic,  who  had  even  offered  to  use  his  power 
to  favor  the  establishment  of  royalty.  Seeing  the  de- 


212  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

gree  of  anarchy  to  which  the  government  of  Juarez  had 
fallen,  they  thought  the  time  had  come  to  appeal  to  the 
sentiment  of  the  nation,  tired,  like  themselves,  of  the 
state  of  dissolution  in  which  its  resources  were  ex 
hausted.  We  did  not  think  we  ought  to  discourage 
this  last  effort  of  a  powerful  party,  whose  origin  is  of 
prior  date  to  our  expedition  ;  but,  faithful  to  the  maxims 
of  public  right  we  hold  in  common  with  the  United 
States,  we  declared  that  this  question  must  be  referred 
solely  to  the  suffrages  of  the  Mexican  people. 

"The  idea  of  the  Emperor's  government  was  defined 
by  his  majesty  himself,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
commander-in-chief  of  our  army  after  the  capture  of 
Puebla.  '  Our  object,  you  are  aware,'  said  the  Empe 
ror,  '  is  not  to  impose  upon  the  Mexicans  a  government 
contrary  to  their  wishes,  nor  to  make  our  successes 
subserve  the  triumph  of  any  party.  I  desire  that 
Mexico  should  be  born  into  new  life,  and  that,  speedily 
regenerated  b}^  a  government  based  upon  the  national 
will,  upon  the  principles  of  order  and  progress,  upon 
respect  for  the  law  of  nations,  she  may  recognize,  by 
friendly  relations,  that  she  owes  to  France  her  repose 
and  her  prosperity.' 

"  The  Mexican  people  uttered  its  decision.  The  Em 
peror  Maximilian  was  summoned  by  the  wish  of  the 
country.  This  government  appeared  to  us  of  a  nature 
to  bring  about  peace  at  home,  and  good  faith  in  inter 
national  relations.  We  granted  it  our  support. 

"  We  went,  therefore,  to  Mexico  to  carry  out  the 
right  of  war  which  Mr.  Seward  fully  admits  that  we 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  213 

possess,  and  not  by  virtue  of  a  principle  of  inter 
vention,  upon  which  we  profess  the  same  doctrine  as 
the  United  States.  We  went  there,  not  to  make  prose 
lytes  to  monarchy,  but  to  obtain  reparation  and 
guarantees  we  were  entitled  to  claim,  and  we  sup 
port  the  government  founded  with  the  assent  of  the 
population,  because  we  expect  from  it  the  satisfaction 
of  our  complaints  with  indispensable  securities  for  the 
future. 

"  As  we  seek  neither  an  exclusive  interest  nor  the 
realization  of  an.  ambitious  idea,  our  sincerest  wish  is 
to  hasten  as  much  as  possible  the  time  when  we  shall 
be  able  with  security  to  our  fellow-subjects  and  dignity 
to  ourselves,  to  recall  what  remains  in  that  country  of 
the  corps  d'armec  we  sent  there.  As  I  informed  you  in 
the  dispatch  to  which  Mr.  SewanVs  communcation 
replies,  it  depends  greatly  upon  the  Federal  govern 
ment  to  facilitate,  in  this  respect,  the  accomplishment 
of  its  desire.  The  doctrine  of  the  United  States,  rest 
ing,  like  our  own,  upon  the  principle  of  the  national 
will,  is  not  incompatible  with  the  existence  of  mon 
archical  institutions  ;  and  President  Johnson  in  his 
message,  like  Mr.  Seward,  in  his  dispatch,  repudiates 
all  idea  of  propagandism,  even  upon  the  American  con 
tinent,  in  favor  of  republican  institutions.  The  cabinet 
of  Washington  entertains  friendly  relations  with  the 
court  of  the  Brazils,  and  it  did  not  refuse  to  enter  into 
relations  with  the  Mexican  empire,  in  1822.  Xo  funda 
mental  maxim,  no  precedent  of  the  diplomatic  history 
of  the  Union,  therefore,  creates  a  necessary  antagonism 


214  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

between  the  United  States,  and  the  system  which,  in 
Mexico,  has  replaced  a  power  which  has,  continually 
and  systematically  violated  its  most  positive  obligations 
toward  other  nations. 

"  Mr.  Seward  seems  to  make  the  government  of  the" 
Emperor  Maximilian  a  two-fold  reproach  as  to  the  diffi 
culties  it  meets  with  and  the  aid  it  borrows  from  foreign 
forces  But  the  resistance  against  which  it  has  found 
itself  compelled  to  struggle  has  no  particular  reference 
to  the  form  of  its  institutions.  It  suffers  the  ordinary 
fate  of  new  authorities,  and  its  chief  misfortune  is  to 
have  to  endure  the  consequences  of  the  disorders  which 
have  arisen  under  previous  governments.  Which  of 
those  governments,  in  fact,  has  not  found  armed  com 
petitors  and  has  enjo3red  undisputed  authority  in  peace? 
Revolts  and  intestine  wars  were  then  the  normal  state 
of  the  country,  and  the  opposition  raised  by  some  mili 
tary  chiefs  to  the  establishment  of  the  empire  is  only 
the  natural  consequence  of  the  habits  of  want  of  disci 
pline  and  anarchy,  of  which  the  authorities  to  which  it 
succeeds  have  been  the  victims. 

"  As  for  the  support  the  Mexican  government  re 
ceives  from  our  army,  and  which  Belgian  and  Austrian 
volunteers  give  it  also,  no  attack  is  thereby  made  upon 
the  independence  of  its  resolutions  or  upon  the  perfect 
liberty  of  its  acts.  What  State  is  there  which  has  not 
had  need  of  allies,  either  to  constitute  or  to  defend  it  ? 
And  have  not  great  powers,  like  France  and  England, 
for  instance,  almost  constantly  maintained  foreign 
troops  in  their  armies  ?  W^Tien  the  United  States  fought 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  215 

for  their  emancipation,  did  tlie  assistance  given  by 
France  to  their  efforts  prevent  that  great  popular  move 
ment  from  being  truly  national?  Will  any  one  say  that 
the  struggle  against  the  South  ivas  not  equally  a  national 
war  because  thousands  of  Irish  and  Germans  fought 
under  the  Union  flag  ?  It  would  be  impossible,  there 
fore,  to  dispute  the  character  of  the  Mexican  govern 
ment,  and  to  consider  as  a  motive  of  dislike  toward  it 
either  the  resistance  it  must  conquer  to  consolidate  it 
self,  or  the  foreign  troops  who  will  have  aided  it  to 
cause  security  and  order  to  revive  in  a  country  so  long 
and  so  deeply  agitated." 

"  Such  an  undertaking  is  assuredly  worthy  of  being 
appreciated  by  a  nation  so  enlightened  as  the  United 
States,  especially  calculated  to  reap  advantage  from  it. 
In  place  of  a  country  incessantly  troubled,  which  has 
given  them  so  many  subjects  of  complaint,  and  upon 
which  they  themselves  have  even  been  obliged  to  make 
war,  they  would  find  a  pacified  country,  henceforth 
offering  guarantees  of  security  and  vast  outlets  to  their 
commerce.  Far  from  injuring  their  rights  or  impairing 
their  influence,  it  is  they  in  especial  who  ought  to 
profit  by  the  work  of  reorganization  being  carried  out 
in  Mexico. 

"  To  sum  up,  M.  le  Marquis,  the  United  States  recog 
nize  the  right  we  had  to  make  ivar  in  Mexico ;  upon  the 
other  hand,  like  them,  we  admit  the  principle  of  non 
intervention.  This  two-fold  admission  seems  to  me  to 
offer  the  elements  of  an  agreement.  The  right  of  making 
war,  which  belongs,  as  Mr.  Seward  states,  to  every 


216  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

sovereign  nation,  implies  the  right  of  securing  the  re 
sults  of  war.  We  have  not  crossed  the  ocean  solely 
with  the  intention  of  displaying  our  power  and  of  in 
flicting  chastisement  upon  the  Mexican  government. 

"  After  a  series  of  useless  reclamations,  we  must  demand 
guarantees  against  the  return  of  the  violence  from  which 
our  fellow-subjects  have  suffered  so  cruelly,  and  we  can 
not  expect  these  guarantees  from  a  government  whose 
bad  faith  we  had  so  often  experienced.  We  find  them 
now  in  the  establishment  of  a  regular  power,  which 
shows  itself  disposed  honestly  to  keep  its  engagements. 
Under  these  circumstances  we  hope  that  the  legitimate 
object  of  our  expedition  will  soon  be  attained,  and  we 
are  hastening  to  make  arrangements  with  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  which,  while  satisfying  our  interests  and  our 
dignity,  allow  us  to  consider  the  part  of  our  army  upon 
Mexican  soil  at  an  end.  The  Emperor  has  ordered  me 
to  write  in  this  sense  to  his  minister  in  Mexico. 

"  We  return  after  that  period  to  the  principle  of  non 
intervention,  and  from  the  moment  we  accept  it  as  our 
rule  of  conduct,  our  interest  and  honor  require  us 
to  demand  its  equal  application  by  all.  Relying  upon 
the  equitable  spirit  of  the  Washington  cabinet,  we  ex 
pect  from  it  the  assurance  that  the  American  people 
will  conform  to  the  law  they  invoke  by  maintaining  a 
strict  neutrality  with  regard  to  Mexico.  When  you 
shall  have  informed  me  of  the  resolution  of  the  American 
government  in  this  matter,  I  shall  be  in  a  position  to 
acquaint  you  with  the  result  of  our  negotiation  with  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  for  the  return  of  our  troops. 


V 

MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN.  217 

"I  request  you  to  band  Mr.  Seward  a  copy  of  this 
dispatch,  in  reply  to  his  communication  of  the  6th  of 
December  last,  asking  him  to  bring  it  to  the  knowledge 
of  President  Johnson  ;  and  I  rest  with  confidence  for  the 
examination  of  the  arguments  it  contains  upon  the  tra 
ditional  sentiments  recalled  by  the  note  of  the  Secretary 
of  State  of  the  Union. 

"DROUYX  DE  LIIUYS." 

This  admirable  state  paper  needs  no  comment,  for 
it  is  its  own  commentary.  But  every  line  and  every 
word  of  it  is  worthy  of  the  most  attentive  considera 
tion.  ISTo  one,  wlio  lias  not  read  this  dispatch,  can 
fully  comprehend  the  Mexican  question ;  and  no  one 
who  has  given  it  an  attentive  perusal,  can  be  misled 
upon  any  vital  point  concerning  that  question.  In 
our  intercourse  with  France,  on  this  subject,  we  must 
be  guided  by,  and  conform  to,  the  principles  of  inter 
national  law.  None  of  those  principles  are  more 
clearly  settled  than  that  which  declares  that  the  right 
to  make  war  implies  and  carries  with  it  the  right  to 
secure  the  results  of  war.  Xapoleon  did  not  cross  the 
Atlantic  to  punish  the  Mexican  people.  He  came  to 
Mexico  to  secure  guarantees  for  the  claims  which" 
France  had  against  Mexico,  and  these  guarantees  he 
could  not  expect  to  find  in  a  government  whose  per 
fidy  even  the  United  States  had  proved.  He  found 
those  guarantees,  finally,  in  the  establishment  of  the 


218  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

present  government;  a  government  founded,  as  he 
claims,  upon  the  will  of  the  Mexican  people  them 
selves.  He  went  to  Mexico  to  obtain  these  guarantees. 
Having  thus  obtained  them,  "  we  sustain  the  govern 
ment,"  says  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  "  which  is  founded 
on  the  consent  of  the  people,  because  we  expect  from 
it  the  satisfaction  of  our  wrongs."  And  he  then  in 
forms  Mr.  Seward  that  as  soon  as  the  latter  will  assure 
him  that  the  United  States  will  maintain  neutrality 
toward  Mexico,  arrangements  can  be  made  for  the 
return  of  the  French  troops  to  France,  because  they 
will  have  accomplished  the  objects  of  the  Mexican 
expedition. 


APPENDIX.  219 


APPENDIX. 


i. 

"TREATY  BETWEEN  THE  EMPEROR  OF  FRANCE, 
AND  THE  EMPEROR  OF  MEXICO. 

"  THE  government  of  the  Emperor  of  the  French  and 
that  of  the  Emperor  of  Mexico,  animated  with  an  equal 
desire  to  secure  the  re-establishment  of  order  in  Mexico, 
and  to  consolidate  the  new  empire,  have  resolved  to 
regulate  by  a  convention  the  conditions  of  the  stay  of 
the  French  troops  in  that  country,  and  have  named 
their  plenipotentiaries  to  that  effect,  viz. : 

"  The  Emperor  of  the  French,  M.  Charles  Herbet, 
minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  first  class,  councillor  of 
state,  director  of  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs,  grand 
officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  etc. ;  and  the  Emperor 
of  Mexico,  M.  Joaquin  Velasquez  de  Leon,  his  minister 
of  state  without  portfolio,  grand  officer  of  the  distin 
guished  order  of  Our  Lady  of  Guadaloupe,  etc.  ;  who, 
after  having  communicated  to  each  other  their  full 
powers,  agreed  on  the  following  provisions : 


220  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

"ARTICLE  1.  The  French  troops  at  present  in  Mexico 
shall  be  reduced  as  soon  as  possible  to  a  corps  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  including  the  foreign  legion.  This  corps, 
in  order  to  safeguard  the  interests  which  led  to  the 
intervention,  shall  remain  temporarily  in  Mexico  on  the 
conditions  laid  down  by  the  following  articles. 

"  ARTICLE  2.  The  French  troops  shall  evacuate  Mexico 
in  proportion  as  the  Emperor  of  Mexico  shall  be  able  to 
organize  the  troops  necessary  to  replace  them. 

"ARTICLE  3.  The  foreign  legion  in  the  service  of 
France,  composed  of  eight  thousand  men,  shall,  never 
theless,  remain  in  Mexico  six  years  after  all  the  other 
French  troops  shall  have  been  recalled  in  conformity 
with  Article  2.  From  that  moment  the  said  legion  shall 
pass  into  the  service  and  pay  of  the  Mexican  govern 
ment,  which  reserves  to  itself  the  right  of  abridging  the 
duration  of  the  employment  of  the  foreign  legion  in 
Mexico. 

"  ARTICLE  4.  The  points  of  the  territory  to  be  occu 
pied  by  the  French  troops,  as  well  as  the  military 
expeditions  of  the  said  troops,  if  there  be  any,  shall  be 
determined  in  common  accord,  directly  between  the 
Emperor  of  Mexico  and  the  commandant-in-chief  of  the 
French  corps. 

"  ARTICLE  5.  On  all  the  points  where  the  garrison 
shall  not  be  exclusively  composed  of  Mexican  troops, 
the  military  command  shall  devolve  on  the  French  com 
mander.  In  case  of  expeditions  combined  of  French 
and  Mexican  troops,  the  superior  direction  of  those 
troops  shall  also  belong  to  the  French  commander. 


APPENDIX.  221 

• 

"  ARTICLE  6.  The  French  commanders  shall  not  inter 
fere  with  any  branch  of  the  Mexican  administration. 

"ARTICLE  T.  So  long  as  the  requirements  of  the 
French  corps  cTarmee  shall  necessitate  a  two  monthly 
service  of  transports  between  France  and  Vcra  Cruz, 
the  expense  of  the  said  service,  fixed  at  the  sum  of  four 
hundred  thousand  francs  per  voyage,  (going  and  return 
ing,)  shall  be  paid  by  Mexico. 

"ARTICLE  8.  The  naval  stations  which  France  main 
tains  in  the  AVcst  Indies  and  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  shall 
often  send  vessels  to  show  the  French  flag  in  the  ports 
of  Mexico. 

"  ARTICLE  9.  The  expenses  of  the  French  expedition 
to  Mexico,  to  be  paid  by  the  Mexican  government,  are 
fixed  at  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  million 
Cranes  for  the  whole  duration  of  the  expedition  down  to 
the  1st  of  July,  1864.  That  sum  shall  bear  interest  at 
the  rate  of  three  per  cent,  per  annum.  From  the  1st  of 
July  all  the  expense  of  the  Mexican  army  shall  be  at  the 
charge  of  Mexico. 

"  ARTICLE  10.  The  indemnity  to  be  paid  to  France  by 
the  Mexican  government  for  the  pay  and  maintenance 
of  the  troops  of  the  corps  d'armee  after  the  1st  of  July, 
18G4,  remains  fixed  at  the  sum  of  one  thousand  francs  a 
year  for  each  man. 

"ARTICLE  11.  The  Mexican  government  shall  hand 
over  to  the  French  government  the  sum  of  sixty-six 
million  francs  in  bonds  of  the  loan  at  the  rate  of  issue, 
viz. :  fifty-four  million  francs,  to  be  deducted  from  the 
debt  mentioned  in  Article  9,  and  twelve  million  francs 


222  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

as  an  instalment  of  the  indemnities  due  to  Frenchmen 
in  virtue  of  Article  14  of  the  present  convention. 

"ARTICLE  12.  For  the  payment  of  the  surplus  of  the 
war  expenses,  and  for  acquitting  the  charges  in  Articles 
7,  10,  and  14,  the  Mexican  government  engages  to  pay 
annually  to  France  the  sum  of  twenty-five  millions  in 
specie.  That  sum  shall  be  imputed,  first,  to  the  sums 
due  in  virtue  of  articles  T  and  10;  and  secondly,  to 
the  amount,  interest  and  principal,  of  the  sum  fixed  in 
Article  9  ;  thirdly,  to  the  indemnities  which  shall  remain 
due  to  the  French  subjects  in  virtue  of  Article  14  and 
following. 

"ARTICLE  13.  The  Mexican  government  shall  pay,  on 
the  last  clay  of  every  month,  into  the  hands  of  the 
paymaster-general  of  the  army,  what  shall  be  clue  for 
covering  the  expenses  of  the  French  troops  remaining 
in  Mexico,  in  conformity  with  Article  10. 

"ARTICLE  14.  The  Mexican  government  engages  to 
indemnify  French  subjects  for  the  wrongs  they  have 
newly  suffered,  and  which  were  the  original  cause  of 
the  expedition. 

"ARTICLE  15.  A  mixed  commission,  composed  of 
three  Frenchmen  and  three  Mexicans,  appointed  by 
their  respective  governments,  shall  meet  at  Mexico 
within  three  months,  to  examine  and  determine  these 
claims. 

"ARTICLE  16.  A  commission  of  revision,  composed 
of  two  Frenchmen  and  two  Mexicans,  appointed  in  the 
same  manner,  sitting  at  Paris,  shall  proceed  to  the 
definite  liquidation  of  the  claims  already  admitted  by 


APPENDIX.  223 

the  commission  designated  in  the  preceding  Article, 
and  shall  decide  on  those  which  have  been  received  for 
its  decision. 

"ARTICLE  17.  The  French  government  shall  set  at 
liberty  all  the  Mexican  prisoners  of  war  as  soon  as  the 
Emperor  of  Mexico  shall  have  entered  his  States. 

"  ARTICLE  18.  The  present  convention  shall  be  ratified 
and  the  ratifications  exchanged  as  early  as  possible. 

"Done  at  the  castle  of  Miramar,  this  10th  day  of 
April,  1864. 

" HERBET 

"JOAQUIN  YELASQUEZ  DE  LEON." 


II. 

"THE  MINISTER  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  TO  THE 
FRENCH  MINISTER  IN  WASHINGTON. 

"PARIS,  llth  of  August,  1865. 

"  MONSIEUR  LE  MARQUIS: — The  minister  of  the  United 
States  addressed  to  me  on  the  1st  instant  the  note  of 
which  you  will  find  a  copy  annexed.  In  the  answer, 
of  which  a  copy  is  also  given,  which  I  sent  by  the 
Emperor's  command  to  this  communication,  I  felt 
bound  to  declare  to  Mr.  Bigelow  that,  always  ready  to 
reply  to  demands  for  explanations  addressed  to  us  in 
a  friendly  manner,  ive  could  not  think  of  responding  to 
interpellations  expressed  in  a  threatening  tone  relative  to 
vague  allegations  founded  on  equivocal  documents.  At 
the  same  time  I  took  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the 


224  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

communication  of  the  minister  of  the  United  States,  to 
remind  him  that,  as  observers  of  a  scrupulous  neutrality 
in  all  the  internal  questions  which  may  agitate  or 
divide  the  American  Union,  we  were  entitled  to  rely  on 
the  exact  and  loyal  reciprocity  promised  to  us  on  his 
part  with  regard  to  the  affairs  of  Mexico.  We  do  rely 
on  it,  in  fact,  and  yet  we  are  unable  to  conceal  from 
ourselves  that  there  is  some  difficulty  in  conciliating 
certain  recent  facts  and  manifestations,  of  which  we 
cannot  mistake  the  character,  with  the  assurances  we 
have  received. 

"  We  know  that  our  expedition,  its  consequences,  the 
establishment  of  a  monarchy  in  Mexico,  have  been 
viewed  with  displeasure  in  the  United  States ;  we  have 
been  told  this,  and  we  regret  it.  But  a  displeasure 
does  not  constitute  a  grievance,  a  sentiment  does  not 
create  a  right ;  and  the  peace  of  the  world  would  be 
exposed  to  continual  dangers  if  each  State,  in  its  rela 
tions  with  its  neighbors,  were  to  conduct  itself  solely 
to  suit  its  own  conveniences  or  preferences.  In  a  free 
country,  par  excellence,  like  the  United  States,  it  should 
be  known  that  the  liberty  and  the  right  of  each — State 
or  individual — have  for  limits  the  liberty  and  right  of 
others. 

"  /  have  not  here  to  justify  our  expedition  to  Mexico. 
Obliged  to  do  ourselves  justice,  we  went  to  Mexico  to 
seek  the  satisfaction  which  had  been  obstinately  refused 
us.  We  yielded  to  a  necesssity  of  the  same  nature  as 
that  which  had,  at  another  epoch,  conducted  the  Ameri 
can  arms  to  the  capital  of  Mexico.  The  Union  exer- 


APPENDIX.  225 

cited  the  rights  of  victory  in  all  their  plentitude  by 
annexing  a  new  State.  France  does  not  go  so  far ;  ice 
shall  leave  Mexico  without  acquiring  an  inch  of  soil,  and 
without  reserving  to  ourselves  any  advantage  not 
common  to  all  other  powers.  After  our  formal  declara 
tions  on  this  subject,  and  the  categorical  denials  wo 
have  opposed  to  all  contrary  allegations,  we  are  dis 
pensed  from  reptying  to  the  persistent  rumors  of  terri 
torial  cessions,  by  means  of  which  endeavors  are  made 
to  keep  up  irritation  against  us  in  the  United  States. 
The  semblance  of  a  government  against  which  we  made 
war  disappeared  at  our  approach,  Far  from  pretend 
ing  to  dispose  of  the  country,  we  invited  and  encour 
aged  it  to  dispose  of  itself. 

"  In  a  communication  which  Mr.  Bigelow  did  me  the 
honor  to  address  to  me  on  the  12th  of  June  last,  he 
was  pleased  to  acknowledge  that  the  success  of  republi 
can  institutions  in  Spanish  America  had  not  been  such 
as  to  encourage  the  United  States  to  attempt  propaga 
ting  them  otherwise  than  by  example,  and  that,  in  fine, 
any  government  which  should  be  acceptable  to  the  Mexi 
cans  would  satisfy  the  United  States.  There  is  no 
reason  to  be  astonished,  therefore,  that  Mexico,  enlighf 
ened  by  disastrous  experience,  should  endeavor,  under 
a  system  better  adapted  to  its  instincts,  to  escape  from 
the  anarchical  chaos  into  which  it  had  been  plunged  by 
an  interminable  series  of  revolutions. 

"A  movement  took  place  in  the  sense  of  monarchical 
ideas    in    favor   of    a   liberal    prince,    belonging    to   a 
dynasty  certainly  illustrious  among  all,  but  attached  to 
15 


226  MEXICO     UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

us  by  no  bond,  and  with  which  we  had  just  been  at  war. 
The  Archduke  Maximilian,  called  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
country,  and  proclaimed  Emperor,  now  exercises  the 
sovereign  rights  conferred  on  him  by  the  Mexican 
nation.  No  other  constituted  power  exists  on  Mexican 
soil.  An  ex-President,  flying  from  village  to  village,  is 
no  more  a  head  of  a  government  than  a  few  bands  of 
guerillas,  pillaging  and  infesting  the  high  roads,  are 
armies.  Can  the  cabinet  of  Washington  be  ignorant 
of  that  state  of  things  ?  It  has  itself,  during  four  j^ears, 
contested  the  character  of  a  regular  power  to  the 
government  residing  at  Richmond.  Are  we  not 
allowed  to  ask  by  what  signs  it  recognizes  in  the  person 
of  M.  Juarez  the  attributes  of  sovereignty  ? 

"  Our  right,  resulting  from  injury  done  to  our  inter 
ests,  took  us  to  Mexico.  We  are  unwilling  to  leave 
anarchy  behind  us,  because  we  do  not  wish  to  have 
fresh  wrongs  to  avenge,  or  interests  again  compromised 
to  defend.  We  have  already  withdrawn  some  of  our 
troops,  and  we  shall  recall  them  all  gradually,  accord 
ing  to  the  re-establishment  of  order  and  the  pacification 
of  the  country.  We  look  forward  with  the  sincerest 
wishes  to  the  day  when  the  last  French  soldier  shall 
quit  Mexico.  Those  whom  our  presence  disturbs  or 
incommodes  may  contribute  to  the  approach  of  that 
moment.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  excitements  from 
outside  keep  up  agitation.  Let  those  encouragements 
cease  ;  let  them  allow  that  unfortunate  country,  weary 
of  anarchy,  to  become  tranquil  and  organize  itself 
under  a  government  calculated  to  heal  the  wounds 


/z_/.' 


APPENDIX.  227 

inflicted  j  order  and  tranquillity  will  soon  be  established, 
and  the  term  assigned  for  our  occupation  will  be  greatly 
abridged.  But  the  fact  should  be  well  borne  in  mind 
that  we  are  not  in  the  habit  of  hastening  our  steps  on  ' 
account  of  haughty  injunctions  or  threatening  insinua 
tions. 

"  You  will  have  the  goodness,  Monsieur  le  Marquis, 
to  take  in  the  full  meaning  of  this  dispatch,  and  to  com 
municate  those  explanations  to  the  Federal  govern 
ment.  They  have  for  object,  and  we  desire  that  they 
should  have  for  effect,  to  clear  up  the  situations  and 
remove  all  doubts  as  to  our  intentions.  We  hope  for  a 
reply  in  the  same  spirit  of  frankness  and  conciliation 
that  has  dictated  our  own  language.  It  is  not  worthy 
of  two  great  nations  to  allow  any  thing  equivocal  to 
subsist  between  them,  and  their  governments  would 
incur  a  severe  blame  in  history,  and  a  grave  responsi 
bility  at  the  present  time,  if,  in  default  of  preliminary 
explanation,  they  were  to  abandon  to  the  chance  of  cir 
cumstances  and  unforeseen  incidents  the  maintenance 
of  their  good  relations  and  the  preservation  of  peace. 
Confident  in  the  straightforward  common  sense  of  the 
American  people  and  the  enlightened  sagacity  of  its 
government,  we  are  unwilling  to  believe  that  temporary 
impulses  can,  against  all  that  is  common  to  us  both  in 
old  reminiscences,  against  present  interests  and  future 
prospects,  prevent  a  truly  solid  and  durable  basis  for 
the  alliance  between  the  two  countries. 

"Receive,  etc.,          DROUYN  DE  LHUYS." 


228  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

III. 
"MB.  SEWARD  TO  MARQUIS  DE  MONTHOLON. 


"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,         ") 

f.J 


"  WASHINGTON,  February  12,  1866. 

"SiR: — On  the  6th  of  December  I  had  the  honor  to 
submit  to  you  in  writing,  for  the  information  of  the 
Emperor,  a  communication  upon  the  subject  of  affairs 
in  Mexico,  as  affected  by  the  presence  of  French  armed 
forces  in  that  count ry.  On  the  29th  of  January  there 
after  you  favored  me  with  a  reply  to  that  communication, 
which  reply  had  been  transmitted  to  you  by  M.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys,  under  the  date  of  the  9th  of  the  same  month.  J 
have  submitted  it  to  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  now  made  my  duty  to  revert  to  the  interesting 
question  which  has  thus  been  brought  under  discussion. 

"  In  the  first  place  I  take  notice  of  the  points  which 
are  made  by  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys. 

"He  declares  that  the  French  expedition  into  Mexico 
had  in  it  nothing  hostile  to  the  institutions  of  the  New 
World,  and  still  less  of  any  thing  hostile  to  the  United 
States.  As  proofs  of  this  friendly  statement,  he  refers 
to  the  aid  in  blood  and  treasure  which  France  con 
tributed  in  our  revolutionary  war  to  the  cause  of  our 
national  independence :  to  the  preliminary  proposition 
that  France  made  to  us  that  we  should  join  her  in  her 
expedition  to  Mexico;  and,  finally,  to  the  neutrality 


APPENDIX.  223 

which  Franco  has  practiced  in  the  painful  civil  war 
tli rough  which  we  have  jtis-t  successfully  passed.  It 
gives  me  pleasure  to  acknowledge  that  the  assurances 
thus  given  on  the  present  occasion  that  the  French 
expedition,  in  its  original  design,  had  no  political 
objects  or  motives,  harmonize  entirely  with  expres 
sions  which  abound  in  the  earlier  correspondence  of 
the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  which  arose  out  of  the 
war  between  France  and  Mexico. 

"  We  accept  with  especial  pleasure  the  reminiscences 
of  our  traditional  friendship. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  next  assures  us  that  the  French 
government  is  disposed  to  hasten,  as  much  as  possible 
the  recall  of  its  troops  from  Mexico.  We  hail  the 
announcement  as  being  a  virtual  promise  of  relief  to 
this  government  from  the  apprehensions  and  anxieties 
which  were  the  burden  of  that  communication  of  mine, 
which  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  has  had  under  considera 
tion. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  proceeds  to  declare  that  the 
only  aim  of  France,  in  pursuing  her  enterprise  in 
Mexico,  has  been  to  follow  up  the  satisfaction  to  which 
she  had  a  right  after  having  resorted  to  coercive  meas 
ures,  when  measures  of  every  other  form  had  been  ex 
hausted.  M.  Drouyn  Lhuys  says  that  it  is  known  how 
many  and  legitimate  were  the  claims  of  French  sub 
jects  which  caused  the  resort  to  arms.  He  then  re 
minds  us  how,  on  a  former  occasion,  the  United  States 
had  waged  war  on  Mexico.  On  this  point  it  seems 
equally  necessary  and  proper  to  say,  that  the  war  thus 


230  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

referred  to  was  not  made  nor  sought  by  the  United 
States,  but  was  accepted  by  them  under  provocations 
of  a  very  grave  character.  The  transaction  is  past, 
and  the  necessity  and  justice  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
United  States  are  questions  which  now  rest  only  within 
the  province  of  history.  France,  I  think,  will  acknowl 
edge,  that  neither  in  the  beginning  of  our  Mexican  war 
nor  in  its  prosecution,  nor  in  the  terms  on  which  we 
retired  from  that  successful  contest,  did  the  United 
States  assume  any  position  inconsistent  with  the  prin 
ciples  which  are  now  maintained  by  us  in  regard  to  the 
French  expedition  in  Mexico. 

"  We  are,  as  we  have  been,  in  relations  of  amity  and 
friendship  equally  with  France  and  with  Mexico,  and, 
therefore,  we  cannot,  consistently  with  those  relations, 
constitute  ourselves  a  judge  of  the  original  merits  of 
the  war  which  is  waged  between  them.  We  can  speak 
concerning  that  war  only  so  far  as  we  are  affected  by  its 
bearing  upon  ourselves  and  upon  republican  and  Ameri 
can  institutions  on  this  continent. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  declares  that  the  French 
army,  in  entering  Mexico,  did  not  carry  monarchical  tra 
ditions  in  the  folds  of  its  flag.  In  this  connexion  he 
refers  to  the  fact  that  there  were,  at  the  time  of  the 
expedition  a  number  of  influential  men  in  Mexico  who 
despaired  of  obtaining  order  out  of  the  conditions  of 
the  republican  rule  then  existing  there,  and  who,  there 
fore,  cherished  the  idea  of  falling  back  upon  monarchy. 
In  this  connexion,  we  are  further  reminded  that  one  of 
the  later  presidents  of  Mexico  offered  to  use  his  power 


APPENDIX.  231 

for  the  re-establishment  of  royalty.  We  are  further 
informed  that  at  the  time  of  the  French  invasion,  the 
persons  before  referred  to  deemed  the  moment  to  have 
arrived  for  making  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  Mexico 
in  favor  of  monarchy.  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  remarks 
that  the  French  government  did  not  deem  it  a  duty  to 
discourage  that  supreme  effort  of  a  powerful  part}', 
which  had  its  origin  long  anterior  to  the  French  expe 
dition. 

"M.  Droii3'n  de  Lhuys  observes  that  the  Emperor 
faithful  to  maxims  of  public  right,  which  he  holds  in 
common  with  the  United  States,  declared  on  that  occa 
sion  that  the  question  of  change  of  institutions  rested 
solely  on  the  suffrages  of  the  Mexican  people.  In  sup 
port  of  this  statement,  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  gives  us  a 
copy  of  a  letter  which  the  Emperor  addressed  to  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  French  expedition,  on  the 
capture  of  Puebla,  which  letter  contained  the  following 
words:  '  Our  object,  you  know,  is  not  to  impose  on  the 
Mexicans  a  government  against  their  will,  nor  to  make 
our  success  aid  the  triumph  of  any  party  whatsoever. 
I  desire  that  Mexico  may  rise  to  a  new  life,  and  that, 
soon  regenerated  by  a  government  founded  on  the 
national  will,  on  principles  of  order  and  of  progress, 
and  of  respect  for  the  laws  of  nations,  she  may  acknowl 
edge  b}7  her  friendly  relations  that  she  owes  to  France 
her  repose  and  her  prosperity.' 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhin's  pursues  his  argument  by  s&y- 
ing  that  the  Mexican  people  have  spoken ;  that  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  has  been  called  by  the  voice  of 


232  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

the  country  ;  that  his  government  has  appeared  to  the 
Emperor  of  the  French  to  be  of  a  nature  adequate  to 
restore  peace  to  the  nation,  and,  on  its  part,  peace  to 
international  relations,  and  that  he  has,  therefore,  given 
it  his  support.  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  thereupon  pre 
sents  the  following  as  a  true  statement  of  the  -present 
case  :  France  went  to  Mexico  to  exercise  the  right  of 
war,  which  is  exercised  by  the  United  States,  and  not 
in  virtue  of  any  purpose  of  intervention,  concerning 
which  she  recognizes  the  same  doctrine  with  the  United 
States.  France  went  there  not  to  bring  about  a  mon 
archical  proselytism,  but  to  obtain  reparations  and 
guarantees  which  she  ought  to  claim  ;  and,  being  there, 
she  now  sustains  the  government  which  is  founded  on 
the  consent  of  the  people,  because  she  expects  from  that 
government  the  just  satisfaction  of  her  wrongs,  as  well 
as  the  securities  indispensable  to  the  future.  As  she 
does  not  seek  the  satisfaction  of  an  exclusive  interest, 
nor  the  realization  of  any  ambitious  schemes,  so  she 
now  wishes  to  recall  what  remains  in  Mexico  of  the 
corps  which  France  has  sent  there  at  the  moment 


when  she  will  be  able  to  do  so  with  safety  to  French 
citizens  and  with  due  respect  for  herself. 

"  I  am  aware  how  delicate  the  discussion  is  to  which 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  thus  invites  me.  France  is  en 
titled,  by  every  consideration  of  respect  and  friendship, 
to  interpret  for  herself  the  objects  of  the  expedition, 
and  of  the  whole  of  her  proceedings  in  Mexico.  Her 
explanation  of  those  motives  and  objects  is,  therefore, 
accepted  on  our  part  with  the  consideration  and  confi- 


APPENDIX.  233 

deuce  which  we  expect  for  explanations  of  our  own 
when  assigned  to  France  or  any  other  friendly  power. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  my  duty  to  insist  that,  whatever 
were  the  intentions,  purposes,  and  objects  of  France, 
the  proceedings  which  were  adopted  by  a  class  of  Mex 
icans  for  subverting  the  republican  government  there, 
and  for  availing  themselves  of  French  intervention  to 
establish  on  its  ruins  an  imperial  monarchy,  are  re 
garded  by  the  United  States  as  having  been  taken 
without  the  authority,  and  prosecuted  against  the  will 
.  and  opinions  of  the  Mexican  people.  For  these  rea- 
'sons  it  seems  to  this  government  that,  in  supporting 
institutions  thus  established  in  derogation  of  the  in 
alienable  rights  of  the  people  of  Mexico,  the  original 
purposes  and  objects  of  the  French  expedition,  though 
they  have  not  been,  as  a  military  demand  of  satisfac 
tion,  abandoned,  nor  lost  out  of  view  by  the  Emperor 
of  the  French,  were,  nevertheless,  left  to  fall  into  a  con 
dition  in  which  they  seem  to  Lave  become  subordinate 
to  a  political  revolution,  which  certainly  would  have 
not  occurred  if  France  had  not  forcibly  intervened,  and 
which,  judging  from  the  genius  and  character  of  the 
Mexican  people,  would  not  now  be  maintained  by  them 
if  that  armed  intervention  should  cease.  The  United  \ 
States  have  not  seen  any  satisfactory  evidence  that  the  j 
people  of  Mexico  have  spoken,  and  have  called  into  I 
being,  or  accepted,  the  so-called  empire,  which  it 
sisted  has  been  set  up  in  their  capital.  The""flnited 
States,  as  I  have  remarked  on  other  occasions,  are  of 
opinion  that  such  an  acceptance  could  not  have  been 


234  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

freely  procured  or  lawfully  taken  at  any  time  in  the 
presence  of  the  French  army  of  invasion.  The  with 
drawal  of  the  French  forces  is  deemed  necessar}^  to 
allow  such  a  proceeding  to  be  taken  by  Mexico.  Of 
course  the  Emperor  of  France  is  entitled  to  determine 
the  aspect  in  which  the  Mexican  situation  ought  to  be 
regarded  by  him.  Nevertheless,  the  view  which  I  have 
thus  presented  is  the  one  which  this  nation  has  ac 
cepted.  It  therefore  recognizes,  and  must  continue  to 
recognize  in  Mexico,  only  the  ancient  republic,  and  it 
can  in  no  case  consent  to  involve  itself,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  in  relation  with  or  recognition  of  the  in 
stitution  of  the  Prince  Maximilian  in  Mexico. 

"  This  position  is  held,  I  believe,  without  one  dissent 
ing  voice  by  our  countrymen.  I  do  not  presume  to  say 
that  this  opinion  of  the  American  people  is  accepted  or 
will  be  adopted  generally  by  other  foreign  powers,  or 
by  the  public  opinion  of  mankind.  The  Emperor  is 
quite  competent  to  form  a  judgment  upon  this  impor 
tant  point  for  himself.  I  cannot,  however,  properly  ex 
clude  the  observation  that,  while  this  question  aifects 
by  its  bearings,  incidentally,  every  republican  State  in 
the  American  hemisphere,  every  one  of  those  States  has 
adopted  the  judgment  which,  on  the  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  is  herein  expressed.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  it  has  happened,  either  rightfully  or  wrong 
fully,  that  the  presence  of  European  armies  in  Mexico, 
maintaining  a  European  prince  with  imperial  attributes, 
without  her  consent  and  against  her  will,  is  deemed  a 
source  of  apprehension  and  danger,  not  alone  to  the 


APPENDIX.  235 

United  States,  but  also  to  all  the  independent  and  sov 
ereign  republican  States  founded  on  'the  American  con 
tinent  and  its  adjacent  islands.  France  is  acquainted 
with  the  relations  of  the  United  States  toward  the 
other  American  States  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  is 
aware  of  the  sense  that  the  American  people  entertain 
in  regard  to  the  obligations  and  duties  due  from  them 
to  those  other  States.  We  are  thus  brought  back  to 
the  single  question  which  formed  the  subject  of  my 
communication  of  the  6th  of  December  last,  namely, 
the  desirableness  of  an  adjustment  of  a  question  the 
continuance  of  which  must  be  necessarily  prejudicial  to 
the  harmony  and  friendship  which  have  hitherto  always 
existed  between  the  United  States  and  France. 

"  This  government  does  not  undertake  to  say  how 
the  claims  of  indemnity  and  satisfaction,  for  which  the 
war  which  France  is  waging  in  Mexico  was  originally 
instituted,  shall  now  be  adjusted,  in  discontinuing  what, 
in  its  progress,  has  become  a  war  of  political  interven 
tion  dangerous  to  the  United  States  and  to  republican 
institutions  in  the  American  hemisphere.  Recognizing 
France  and  the  republic  of  Mexico  as  belligerents  en 
gaged  in  war,  we  leave  all  questions  concerning  those 
claims  and  indemnities  to  them,  ^he  United  States 
rest  content  with  submitting  to  France  the  exigencies 
of  an  embarrassing  situation  in  Mexico,  and  expressing 
the  hope  that  France  may  find  some  manner  which 
shall  at  once  be  consistent  with  her  interest  and  honor, 
and  with  the  principles  and  interest  of  the  United 
,  to  relieve  that  situation  without  injurious  delay. 


236  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuj^s  repeats  on  this  occasion 
what  he  has  heretofore  written,  namely,  that  it  depends 
much  upon  the  Federal  government  to  facilitate  their 
desire  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  French  forces  from 
Mexico.  He  argues  that  the  position  which  the  United 
States  have  assumed  has  nothing  incompatible  with  the 
existence  of  monarchical  institutions  in  Mexico.  He 
draws  to  his  support  on  this  point  the  fact  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the  Secretary 
of  State,  in  official  papers,  disclaim  all  thought  of  pro- 
pagandism  on  the  American  continent  in  favor  of  re 
publican  institutions.  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  draws  in, 
also,  the  fact  that  the  United  States  hold  friendly  rela 
tions  with  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  as  they  held  similar 
relations  with  Iturbide,  the  Mexican  Emperor,  in  1822. 
From  these  positions  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  makes  the 
deduction  that  neither  any  fundamental  maxim,  nor 
any  precedent  in  the  diplomatic  history  of  this  country, 
creates  any  necessary  antagonism  between  the  United 
States  and  the  form  of  government  over  which  the 
Prince  Maximilian  presides  in  the  ancient  capital  of 
Mexico. 

"  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  profitable,  and  therefore 
I  am  not  desirous  to  engage  in  the  discussions  which 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  has  thus  raised.  It  will  be  suf 
ficient  for  my  purpose,  on  the  present  occasion,  to 
assert  and  to  give  reassurance  of  our  desire  to  facilitate 
the  withdrawal  of  the  French  troops  from  Mexico,  and, 
for  that  purpose,  to  do  whatsoever  shall  be  compatible 
with  the  positions  we  have  heretofore  taken  upon  that 


APPENDIX.  237 

subject,  and  with  our  just  regard  to  the  sovereign  rights 
of  the  republic  of  Mexico.  Further  or  otherwise  than 
this  France  could  not  expect  us  to  go.  Having  thus 
reassured  France,  it  seems  necessary  to  state  anew  the 
position  of  this  government,  as  it  was  set  forth  in  my 
letter  of  the  6th  of  December,  as  follows  :  Republican^ 
and  domestic  institutions  on  this  continent  are  deemed  1 
most  congenial  with  and  most  beneficial  to  the  United  j 
States.  Where  the  people  of  any  country,  like  Brazil] 
now,  or  Mexico  in  1822,  have  voluntarily  established 
and  acquiesced  in  monarchical  institutions  of  their  own 
choice,  free  from  all  foreign  control  or  intervention,  the 
United  States  do  not  refuse  to  maintain  relations  with 
such  governments,  or  seek  through  propagandisni,  by 
fore*?  o/  mtrisr.ue,  to  overthrow  those  institutions.  On 
tilts-contrary,  where  a  nation  has  established  institutions 
republican  and  domestic,  similar  to  our  own,  the 
United  States  assert  in  their  behalf  that  no  foreign  na 
tion  can  rightfully  intervene  by  force  to  subvert  repub 
lican  institutions  and  establish  those  of  an  antago- 
nistical  character. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  seems  to  think  that  I  have 
made  a  double  reproach  against  the  Prince  Maximilian's 
alleged  government,  of  the  difficulty  it  encounters  and 
of  the  assistance  it  borrows  from  foreign  powers.  In 
that  respect  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  contends  that  the 
obstacles  and  the  resistance  which  Maximilian  has  been 
obliged  to  wrestle  with  have  in  themselves  nothing  es 
pecial  against  the  form  of  the  institutions  which  he  is 
supposed  by  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  to  hava  established. 


238  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  maintains  that  Maximilian's  gov 
ernment  is  undergoing  the  lot  quite  common  to  new 
powers,  while,  above  all,  it  has  the  misfortune  to  have  to 
bear  the  consequences  of  discords  which  have  been  pro 
duced  under  a  previous  government.  M.  Drouyn  de 
Lhuys  represents  this  misfortune  and  this  lot  to  be  in 
effect  the  misfortune  and  lot  of  governments  which 
have  not  found  armed  competitors,  and  which  have  en 
joyed  in  peace  an  uncontrolled  authority.  M.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys  alleges  that  revolts  and  intestine  wars  are 
the  normal  condition  of  Mexico,  and  he  further  insists 
that  the  opposition  made  by  some  military  chiefs  to  the 
establishment  of  an  empire  under  Maximilian  is  only  the 
natural  sequence  of  the  same  want  of  discipline,  and  the 
same  prevalence  of  anarchy,  of  which  his  predecessors 
in  power  in  Mexico  have  been  victims.  It  is  not  the 
purpose,  nor  would  it  be  consistent  with  the  character 
of  the  United  States,  to  deny  that  Mexico  has  been  for 
a  long  time  the  theatre  of  faction  and  intestine  war. 
The  United  States  confess  this  fact  with  regret,  all 
the  more  sincere,  because  the  experience  of  Mexico 
has  been  not  only  painful  for  her  own  people,  but  has 
been  also  of  unfortunate  evil  influence  on  other  nations. 
"  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  neither  a  right  of  the  Uni 
ted  States,  nor  consistent  with  their  friendly  disposition 
toward  Mexico,  to  reproach  the  people  of  that  country 
with  her  past  calamities,  much  less  to  invoke  or  approve 
of  the  infliction  of  punishment  upon  them  by  strangers 
for  their  political  errors.  The  Mexican  population 
have,  and  their  situation  has,  some  peculiarities  which 


APPENDIX.  239 

are  doubtless  well  understood  by  France.  Early  in  the 
present  century  they  were  forced,  by  convictions  which 
mankind  cannot  but  respect,  to  cast  off  a  foreign  mon 
archical  rule  which  they  deemed  incompatible  with  their 
welfare  and  aggrandizement.  They  were  forced,  at  the 
same  time,  by  convictions  which  the  world  must  respect, 
to  attempt  the  establishment  of  republican  institutions, 
without  the  full  experience  and  practical  education  and 
habits  which  would  .render  those  institutions  all  at  once 
firm  and  satisfactory.  Mexico  was  a  theatre  of  conflict 
between  European  commercial,  ecclesiastical,  and  politi 
cal  institutions  and  dogmas,  and  novel  American  insti 
tutions  and  ideas.  She  had  African  slavery,  colonial 
restrictions,  and  ecclesiastical  monopolies.  In  the  chief 
one  of  these  particulars  she  had  a  misfortune  which 
was  shared  by  the  United  States,  while  the  latter  were 
happily  exempted  from  the  other  misfortunes.  We 
cannot  forget  that  Mexico,  sooner  and  rnore  readily 
than  the  United  States,  abolished  slavery.  ~\Ve  cannot 
deny  that  all  the  anarchy  in  Mexico,  of  wrhich  M. 
Drouyn  de  Lhuys  complains,  was  necessarily,  and  even 
wisety,  endured  in  the  attempts  to  lay  sure  foundations 
of  broad  republican  liberty. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  France  can  rightfulty  be  ex 
pected  to  concur  in  this  view,  which  alleviates,  in  our 
mind,  the  errors,  misfortunes,  and  calamities  of  Mexico. 
However  this  may  be,  we  fall  back  upon  the  principle 
that  no  foreign  State  can  rightly  intervene  in  such  trials 
as  those  of  Mexico,  and,  on  the  ground  of  a  desire  to 
correct  those  errors,  deprive  the  people  there  of  their 


MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN". 

natural  right  of  domestic  and  republican  freedom.  All 
the  injuries  and  wrongs  which  Mexico  can  have  com 
mitted  against  any  other  State  have  found  a  severe 
punishment  in  consequences  which  legitimately  followed 
their  commission.  Nations  are  not  authorized  to  correct 
each  other's  errors,  except  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  pre 
vent  or  redress  injuries  affecting  themselves.  If  one 
State  has  a  right  to  intervene  in  any  other  State,  to 
establish  discipline,  constituting  itself  a  judge  of  the 
occasion,  then  every  State  has  the  same  right  to  inter 
vene  in  the  affairs  of  every  other  nation,  being  itself  alone 
the  arbiter,  both  in  regard  to  the  time  and  the  occasion. 
The  principle  of  intervention,  thus  practically  carried 
out,  would  seem  to  render  all  sovereignty  and  indepen 
dence,  and  even  all  internationarpeace  and  amity,  un 
certain  and  fallacious. 

"M.  Drouyn  cle  Lhnys  proceeds  to  remark,  that  as  for 
the  support  which  Maximilian-  receives  from  the  French 
army,  as  well  also  for  the  support  which  has  been  lent 
him  by  Belgian  and  Austrian  volunteers,  those  sup 
ports  cause  no  hindrance  to  the  freedom  of  his  resolu 
tions  in  the  affairs  of  his  government.  M.  Drouyn  de 
Lhuys  asks  what  State  is  there  that  does  not  need  allies, 
either  to  form  or  to  defend  ?  As  to  the  great  powers, 
such  as  France  and  England,  do  they  not  constantly 
maintain  foreign  troops  in  their  armies  ?  When  the 
United  States  fought  for  their  independence,  did  the 
aid  given  by  France  cause  that  movement  to  cease  to 
be  truly  national  ?  Shall  it  be  said  that  the  contest  be 
tween  the 'United  States  and  the  recent  insurgents  was 


AI'PEXDTX.  2-il 

not  in  a  like  manner  a  national  war,  because  thousands 
of  Irishmen  and  Germans  were  found  fighting  under  the 
(lag  of  the  Union  ?  Arguing  from  anticipated  answers 
to  these  questions,  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  reaches  a  con 
clusion  that  the  character  of  Maximilian's  government 
cannot  be  contested,  nor  can  its  efforts  to  consolidate 
itself  be  contested,  on  the  ground  of  the  employment 
of  foreign  troops. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  in  this  argument,  seems  to  us 
to  have  overlooked  two  important  facts,  namely :  first, 
that  the  United  States,  in  this  correspondence,  have 
assigned  definite  limits  to  the  right  of  alliance  incom 
patible  with  our  assent  to  his  argument ;  and  secondly, 
the  fact  that  the  United  States  have  not  at  any  time 
accepted  the  supposed  government  of  the  Prince  Max 
imilian  as  a  constitutional  or  legitmate  form  of  govern 
ment  in  Mexico,  capable  or  entitled  to  form  alliances. 

"M.  Drouyn  de  Lhirys  tlum  arranges,  in  a  graphic 
manner,  the  advantages  that  have  arisen,  or  are  to  arise, 
to  the  United  States,  from  the  successful  establishment 
of  the  supposed  empire  in  Mexico.  Instead  of  a  coun 
try  unceasingly  in  trouble,  and  which  has  given  us  so 
man}7  subjects  of  complaint,  and  against  which  we  our 
selves  have  been  obliged  to  make  war,  he  shows  us  in 
Mexico  a  pacific  country,  under  a  beneficent  imperial 
sway,  offering  henceforth  measures  of  security  and 
vast  openings  to  our  commerce,  a  country  far  from  in 
juring  our  rights  and  hurting  our  influences.  And  he 
assures  us  that,  above  all  other  nations,  the  United 
States  are  most  likely  to  profit  by  the  work  which  is 
1G 


242  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

being  accomplished  by  Prince  Maximilian  in  Mexico. 
These  suggestions  are  as  natural  on  the  part  of  France 
as  they  are  friendly  to  the  United  States.  The  United 
States  are  not  insensible  to  the  desirableness  of  politi 
cal  and  commercial  reform  in  the  adjoining  country ; 
but  their  settled  principles,  habits,  and  convictions  for 
bid  them  to  look  for  such  changes  in  this  hemisphere  to 
foreign,  royal,  or  imperial  institutions,  founded  upon  a 
forcible  subversion  of  republican  institutions.  The 
United  States,  in  their  customary  sobriety,  regard  no 
beneficial  results  which  could  come  from  such  a  change 
in  Mexico  as  sufficient  to  overbalance  the  injury  which 
they  must  directly  suffer  by  the  overthrow  of  the  repub 
lican  government  in  Mexico. 

"  M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  at  the  end  of  his  very  elabo 
rate  and  able  review,  recapitulates  his  exposition  in  the 
following  words :  '  The  United  States  acknowledge  the 
right  we  had  to  make  war  in  Mexico.  On  the  other 
part,  we  admit,  as  they  do,  the  principle  of  non-interven 
tion.  This  double  postulate  includes,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
the  elements  of  an  agreement.  The  right  to  make  war, 
which  belongs,  as  Mr.  Seward  declares,  to  every  sov 
ereign  nation,  implies  the  right  to  secure  the  results  of 
war.  We  have  not  gone  across  the  ocean  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  our  power,  and  of  inflicting 
chastisement  on  the  Mexican  government.  After  a 
train  of  fruitless  remonstrances,  it  was  our  duty  to  de 
mand  guarantees  against  the  recurrence  of  violence 
from  which  our  country  had  suffered  so  cruelly,  and 
those  guarantees  we  could  not  look  for  from  a  govern- 


APPENDIX.  243 

merit  whose  bad  faith  we  had  proved  on  so  many  occa 
sions.  We  find  them  now  engaged  in  the  establishment 
of  a  regular  government  which  shows  itself  disposed  to 
honestly  keep  its  engagements.  In  this  relation  we 
hope  that  the  legitimate  object  of  our  expedition  will 
soon  be  reached,  and  we  are  striving  to  make  with  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  arranguinents  which,  by  satisfying 
our  interests  and  our  honor,  will  permit  us  to  consider 
at  an  end  the  service  of  the  army  upon  Mexican  soil. 
The  Emperor  has  given  an  order  to  write  in  this  same 
sense  to  our  minister  at  Mexico.  We  fall  back  at  that 
moment  on  the  principle  of  non-intervention,  and  from 
that  moment  accept  it  as  the  rule  of  our  conduct.  Our 
interest,  no  less  than  our  honor,  commands  us  to  claim 
from  all  the  uniform  application  of  it.  Trusting  the 
spirit  of  equity  which  animates  the  cabinet  of  Wash 
ington,  we  expect  from  it  the  assurance  that  the  Amer 
ican  people  will  themselves  conform  to  the  law  which 
they  invoke,  by  observing,  in  regard  to  Mexico,  a  strict 
neutrality.  AYhen  you  [meaning  the  Marquis  de  Mon- 
tholon]  shall  have  informed  me  of  the  resolution  of  the 
Federal  government,  I  shall  be  able  to  indicate  to  you 
the  nature  of  the  results  of  our  negotiation  with  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  for  the  return  of  our  troops.' 

"  I  have  already,  and  not  without  much  reluctance, 
made  the  comments  upon  the  arguments  of  M.  Drouyn 
de  Lhuys  which  seem  to  be  necessary  to  guard  against 
the  inference  of  concurrence  in  questionable  positions 
which  might  be  drawn  from  our  entire  silence.  I  think 
that  I  can,  therefore,  afford  to  leave  his  recapitulation 


24:4  MEXICO     iJNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

of  those  arguments  without  such  an  especial  review  as 
would  necessarily  be  prolix,  and  perhaps  hypercritical. 
The  United  States  have  not  claimed,  and  they  do  not 
claim,  to  know  what  arrangements  the  Emperor  may 
make  for  the  adjustment  of  claims  for  indemnity  and 
redress  in  Mexico.  It  would  be,  on  our  part,  an  act  of 
intervention  to  take  cog -.izai:ce  of  them.  We  adhere  to 
our  position  that  the  war  in  question  has  become  a 
political  war  between  France  and  the  republic  of  Mexico, 
injurious  and  dangerous  to  the  United  States  and  to  the 
republican  cause,  and  we  ask  only  that  in  that  aspect 
and  character  it  may  be  brought  to  an  end.  It  would 
be  illiberal  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  suppose 
that,  in  desiring  or  pursuing  preliminary  arrangements, 
the  Emperor  contemplates  the  establishment  in  Mexico, 
before  withdrawing  his  forces,  of  the  very  institutions 
which  constitute  the  material  ground  of  the  exceptions 
taken  against  his  intervention  by  the  United  States.  It 
would  be  still  more  illiberal  to  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  he  expects  the  United  States  to  bind  themselves 
indirectly  to  acquiesce  in  or  support  the  obnoxious  in 
stitutions. 

"On  the  contrary,  we  understand  him  as  announcing 
to  us  his  immediate  purpose  to  bring  to  an  end  the  ser 
vice  of  his  armies  in  Mexico,  to  withdraw  them,  and  in 
good  faith  to  fall  back,  without  stipulation  or  condition 
on  our  part,  upon  the  principle  of  non-intervention  up.on 
which  he  is  henceforth  agreed  with  the  United  States. 
We  cannot  understand  his  appeal  to  us  for  an  assurance 
that  we  ourselves  will  abide  by  our  own  principles  of 


APPENDIX.  245 

non-intervention  in  any  other  sense  than  as  the  expres 
sion,  in  a  friendly  way,  of  his  expectation  that  when  the 
people  of  Mexico  shall  have  been  left  absolutely  free 
from  the  operation,  effects,  and  consequences  of  his 
own  political  and  military  intervention,  we  will  ourselves 
respect  their  self-established  sovereignty  and  indepen 
dence.  In  this  view  of  the  subject  only  can  we  consider 
his  appeal  pertinent  to  the  case.  Regarding  it  in  only 
this  aspect,  we  must  meet  the  Emperor  frankly.  He 
knows  the  form  and  character  of  this  government.  The 
nation  can  be  bound  only  by  treaties  which  have  the 
concurrence  of  the  President  and  two  thirds  of  the 
Senate.  A  formal  treaty  would  be  objectionable  ns  un 
necessary,  except  as  a  disavowal  of  bad  faith  on  our 
part,  to  disarm  suspicion  in  regard  to  a  matter  concern 
ing  which  we  have  given  no  cause  for  questioning  our 
loyalty,  or  else  such  a  treaty  would  be  refused  upon  the 
ground  that  the  application  for  it  by  the  Emperor  of 
France  was  unhappily  a  suggestion  of  some  sinister  or 
unfriendly  reservation  or  purpose  on  his  part  in  with 
drawing  from  Mexico.  Diplomatic  assurances  given  by 
the  President  in  behalf  of  the  nation  can  at  best  be  but 
the  expressions  of  confident  expectation  on  his  part  that 
the  personal  administration,  ever  changing  in  conformity 
and  adaptation  to  the  national  will,  does  not  misunder 
stand  the  settled  principles  and  policy  of  the  American 
people.  Explanations  cannot  properly  be  made  by  the 
President  in  airy  case  wherein  it  would  be  deemed,  for 
iiuy  reason,  objectionable  on  grounds  of  public  policy 


24:6  MEXICO     UN  LEU    MAXIMILIAN. 

by  the  treaty-making  power  of  the  government  to  intro 
duce  or  entertain  negotiations. 

"  With  these  explanations  I  proceed  to  say  that,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  President,  France  need  not  for  a 
moment  delay  her  promised  withdrawal  of  military 
forces  from  Mexico,  and  her  putting  the  principle  of 
non-intervention  into  full  and  complete  practice  in  re 
gard  to  Mexico,  through  any  apprehension  that  the 
United  States  will  prove  unfaithful  to  the  principles  and 
policy  in  that  respect  which,  on  their  behalf,  it  has  been 
my  duty  to  maintain  in  this  now  very  lengthened  corres 
pondence.  The  practice  of  this  government,  from  its 
beginning,  is  a  guarantee  to  all  nations  of  the  respect 
of  the  American  people  for  the  free  sovereignty  of  the 
people  in  every  other  State.  We  received  the  instruc 
tion  from  Washington.  We  applied  it  sternly  in  our 
early  intercourse  even  with  France.  The  same  principle 
and  practice  have  been  uniformly  inculcated  by  all  our 
statesmen,  interpreted  by  all  our  jurists,  maintained  by 
all  our  Congresses,  and  acquiesced  in  without  practical 
dissent  on  all  occasions  by  the  American  people.  It  is 
in  reality  the  chief  element  of  foreign  intercourse  in  our 
history.  Looking  simply  toward  the  point  to  which  our 
attention  has  been  steadily  confined,  the  relief  of  the 
Mexican  embarrassments  without  disturbing  our  rela 
tions  with  France,  we  shall  be  gratified  when  the  Empe 
ror  shall  give  to  us,  either  through  the  channel  of  your 
esteemed  correspondence  or  otherwise,  definitive  infor 
mation  of  the  time  when  French  military  operations 
may  be  expected  to  cease  in  Mexico. 


APPENDIX.  247 

"  Here  I  might  perhaps  properly  conclude  this  note. 
Some  obscurit}',  however,  might  be  supposed  to  rest 
upon  the  character  of  the  principle  of  non-intervention, 
whieji  we  are  authorized  to  suppose  is  now  agreed  upon 
between  the  United  States  and  France  as  a  rule  for  their 
future  government  in  regard  to  Mexico.  I  shall,  there 
fore,  reproduce  on  this  occasion,  by  way  of  illustration, 
some  of  the  forms  in  which  that  principle  has  been 
maintained  by  us  in  our  previous  intercourse  with 
France.  In  1SG1,  when  alluding  to  the  possibility  that 
the  Emperor  might  be  invoked  by  rebel  emissaries  from 
the  United  States  to  intervene  in  our  civil  war,  I  ob 
served  :  '  The  Emperor  of  France  has  given  abundant 
proofs  that  lie  considers  the  people  in  every  country  the 
rightful  source  of  authorit}',  and  that  its  only  legitimate 
objects  are  their  safety,  freedom,  and  welfare.' 

"  I  wrote  also,  on  the  same  occasion,  these  words  to 
Mr.  Dayton  :  '  I  have  thus,  under  the  President's  direc 
tion,  placed  before  you  a  simple,  nnexaggerated,  and 
dispassionate  statement  of  the  origin,  nature,  and  pur 
poses  of  the  contest  in  which  the  United  States  are  now 
involved.  I  have  done  so  only  for  the  purpose  of  de 
ducing  from  it  the  arguments  you  will  find  it  necessary 
to  employ  in  opposing  the  application  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  States  to  the  government  of  his  majesty  the 
Emperor  for  a  recognition  of  their  independence  and 
sovereignty.  The  President  neither  expects  nor  desires 
any  intervention,  or  even  any  favor,  from  the  govern 
ment  of  France,  or  any  other,  in  this  emergency.  What 
ever  else  he  may  consent  to  do,  he  will  never  invoke  nor 


248  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

even  admit  foreign  interference  or  influence  in  this  or 
any  other  controversy  in  which  the  government  of  the 
United  States  may  be  engaged  with  any  portion  of  the 
American  people.' 

*  *  *  *         *         * 

"'Foreign  intervention  would  oblige  us  to  treat 
those  who  should  yield  it  as  allies  of  the  insurrectionary 
party,  and  to  carry  on  the  war  against  them  as  enemies. 

"'  However  other  European  powers  may  mistake,  his 
majesty  is  the  last  one  of  those  sovereigns  to  misappre 
hend  the  nature  of  this  controversy.  He  knows  that 
the  revolution  of  It 76,  in  this  country,  was  a  successful 
contest  of  the  great  American  idea  of  free,  popular 
government  against  resisting  prejudices  and  errors. 
He  knows  that  the  conflict  awakened  the  sympathies  of 
mankind,  and  that  ultimately  the  triumph  of  that  idea 
has  been  hailed  by  all  European  nations  He  knows  at 
what  cost  European  nations  for  a  time  resisted  the  pro 
gress  of  that  idea,  and,  perhaps,  is  not  unwilling  to  con 
fess  how  much  France,  especially,  has  profited  by  it. 
He  will  not  fail  to  recognize  the  presence  of  that  one 
great  idea  in  the  present  conflict,  nor  will  he  mistake 
the  side  on  which  it  will  be  found.  It  is,  in  short,  the 
very  principle  of  universal  suffrage,  with  its  claim  of 
obedience  to  its  decrees,  on  which  the  government  of 
France  is  built  that  is  put  in  issue  by  the  insurrection 
here,  and  is  in  this  emergency  to  be  vindicated  and 
more  effectually  than  ever  established  by  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States.' 

"  In  writing  upon  the  same  subject  to  Mr.  Dayton, 


APPENDIX.  249 

49 

on  the  30th  of  May,  18G1,  I  said :  '  Xothing  is  wanting 
to  that  success  except  that  foreign  nations  shall  leave 
us,  as  is  our  right,  to  manage  our  own  affairs  in  our 
own  way.  They,  as  well  as  we,  can  only  suffer  by  their 
intervention.  No  one,  we  are  sure,  can  judge  better 
than  the  Emperor  of  France  how  dangerous  and 
deplorable  would  be  the  emergency  that  should  intrude 
Europeans  into  the  political  contests  of  the  American 
people.' 

"  In  declining  the  offer  of  French  mediation,  on  the 
8th  of  June,  18G1,  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Dayton:  'The 
present  paramount  duty  of  the  government  is  to  save 
the  integrity  of  the  American  Union.  Absolute,  self- 
sustaining  independence  is  the  first  and  most  indis 
pensable  element  of  national  existence.  This  is  a 
republican  nation  ;  all  its  domestic  -affairs  must  be  con 
ducted  and  even  adjusted  in  constitutional  forms,  and 
upon  constitutional,  republican  principles.  This  is  an 
American  nation,  and  its  internal  affairs  must  not  only 
be  conducted  with  reference  to  its  peculiar  continental 
position,  but  by  and  through  American  agencies  alone.' 

"On  the  1st  of  August,  18G2,  Mr.  Adams  was  in 
structed  by  this  government  in  the  following  words  : 
'  Did  the  European  States  which  found  and  occupied 
this  continent  almost  without  effort  then  understand  its 
real  destiny  and  purposes  ?  Have  they  ever  yet  fully 
understood  and  accepted  them?  Has  anything  but 
disappointment,  upon  disappointment  and  disaster  upon 
disaster,  resulted  from  their  misapprehensions  ?  After 
near  four  hundred  years  of  such  disappointments  and 


250      -  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

disasters,  is  the  way  of  Providence  in  regard  to  America 
still  so  nrj'sterious  that  it  cannot  be  understood  and 
confessed  ?  Columbus,  it  was  said,  had  given  a  new 
world  to  the  kingdoms  of  Castile  and  Leon.  What 
has  become  of  the  sovereignty  of  Spain  in  America  ? 
Richelieu  occupied  and  fortified  a  large  portion  of  the 
continent,  extending  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
straits  of  Belle  Isle.  Does  France  yet  retain  that 
important  appendage  to  the  crown  of  her  sovereign  ? 
Great  Britan  acquired  a  dominion  here  surpassing  by  a 
hundred-fold  in  length  and  breadth  the  native  realm. 
Has  not  a  large  portion  of  it  been  already  formally 
resigned  ?  To  whom  have  those  vast  dominions,  with 
those  founded  by  the  Portuguese,  the  Dutch,  and  the 
Swedes,  been  resigned  but  to  American  nations,  the 
growth  of  European  colonists  and  exiles,  who  have 
come  hither,  bringing  with  them  the  arts,  the  civilization, 
and  the  virtues  of  Europe  ?  Has  not  the  change  been 
beneficial  to  society  on  this  continent  ?  Has  it  not  been 
more  beneficial  even  to  Europe  itself  than  continued 
European  domination,  if  it  had  been  possible,  could 
have  been  ?  The  American  nations  which  have  grown 
up  here  are  free  and  self-governing.  They  have  made 
themselves  so  from  inherent  vigor  and  in  obedience  to 
absolute  necessity.  Is  it  possible  for  European  States  to 
plunge  them  again  into  a  colonial  state  and  hold  them 
there  ?  Would  it  be  desirable  for  them  and  for  Europe, 
if  it  were  possible  ?  The  balance  of  power  among  the 
nations  of  Europe  is  maintained  not  without  numerous 
strong  armies  and  frequent  conflicts,  while  the  sphere  of 


APPENDIX.  251 

political  ambition  there  is  bounded  by  the  ocean  which 
surrounds  that  continent.  Would  it  be  possible  to 
maintain  it  at  all,  if  this  vast  continent,  with  all  its  pop 
ulations,  their  resources,  and  their  forces,  should  once 
again  be  brought  within  that  sphere  ? 

" '  On  the  contrary  of  all  these  suppositions,  is  it  not 
manifest  that  these  American  nations  were  called  into 
existence  to  be  the  home  of  freemen ;  that  the  States  of 
Europe  have  been  intrusted  by  Providence  with  their 
tutelage,  but  that  tutelage  and  all  its  responsibilities 
and  powers  are  necessarily  withdrawn  to  the  relief  and 
benefit  of  the  parties  and  cf  mankind,  when  these 
parties  become  able  to  choose  their  own  system  of 
government,  and  to  make  and  administer  their  own 
laws  ?  If  they  err  in  this  choice,  or  in  the  conduct  of 
their  affairs,  it  will  be  found  wise  to  leave  them,  like  all 
other  States,  the  privilege  and  responsibility  of  detect 
ing  and  correcting  the  error-  by  which  they  are,  of 
course,  the  principal  sufferers.' 

"  On  the  8th  of  May,  1862,  Mr.  Dayton  was  instruc 
ted  to  express  to  M.  Thouveuel  '  the  desire  of  the 
United  States  that  peaceful  relations  may  soon  be 
restored  between  France  and  Mexico  upon  a  basis  just 
to  both  parties,  and  favorable  to  the  independence  and 
sovereignty  of  the  people  of  Mexico,  which  is  equally 
the  interest  of  France  and  all  other  enlightened 
nations.' 

"On  the  21st  of  June,  1862,  Mr.  Dayton  was  author 
ized  to  speak  on  behalf  of  the  United  States  concern 
ing  the  condition  of  Mexico  in  these  words  :  'France 


252  MEXICO   UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

has  a  right  to  make  war  against  Mexico,  and  to  deter 
mine  for  herself  the  cause.  We  have  a  right  to  insist 
that  France  shall  not  improve  the  war  she  makes  to 
raise  up  in  Mexico  an  anti-republican  or  anti-American 
government,  or  to  maintain  such  a  government  there.' 

"Accept,  sir,  a  renewed  assurance  of  my  high  con 
sideration. 

"  WILLIAM   H.    SEWARD. 

"The  MARQUIS  DE  MONTHOLON,  etc.,  etc." 


IT. 

MR.  DROUYN  DE   LHUYS  TO  THE  MARQUIS 
DE  MONTHOLON. 

"  [Translation.] 

"PARIS,  April  5,  1866. 

"SiR: — I  have  read,  with  all  the  attention  which  it 
deserves,  the  answer  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  my 
dispatch  of  the  9th  of  January  last.  The  scrupulous 
care  with  which  Mr.  Seward  has  pleased  to  analyze  that 
dispatch,  and  the  extended  considerations  upon  which 
he  has  entered  to  define,  in  regard  to  the  expose  which 
I  have  made  of  the  conduct  of  France  in  the  affairs  of 
Mexico,  the  doctrines  which  are  the  basis  of  the  inter 
national  policy  of  the  United  States,  bear  witness  in  our 
eyes  of  the  interest  which  the  cabinet  of  Washington 
attaches  to  putting  aside  all  misapprehension. 


APPENDIX.  253 

"We  find  therein  the  evidence  of  its  desire  to  cause 
the  sentiments  of  amity  which  the  traditions  of  a  long 
alliance  have  cemented  between  our  two  countries  to 
prevail  over  the  accidental  divergencies,  often  inevita 
ble,  in  the  movement  of  affairs  and  the  relations  of 
governments.  It  is  in  this  disposition  that  we  have 
appreciated  the  communication  which  the  Secretary  of 
State  has  addressed  to  you,  the  12th  of  February  last. 
I  will  not  follow  Mr.  Seward  in  the  developments  he 
has  given  to  the  exposition  of  the  principles  which 
direct  the  policy  of  the  American  Union.  It  does  not 
appear  to  me  opportune  or  profitable  to  prolong,  on 
points  of  doctrine  or  of  history,  a  discussion,  where  we 
may  differ  in  opinion  from  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  without  danger  to  the  interests  of  the  two  coun 
tries.  I  think  it  better  to  serve  those  interests  by  ab 
staining  from  discussing  assertions — in  my  opinion 
very  contestable — in  order  to  take  action  on  assurances 
which  may  contribute  to  faciliate  our  understanding. 

"  We  never  hesitate  to  offer  to  our  friends  the  explana 
tions  they  ask  from  us,  and  we  hasten  to  give  to  the 
cabinet  of  Washington  all  those  which  may  enlighten  it 
on  the  purpose  we  are  pursuing  in  Mexico,  and  on  the 
loyalty  of  our  intentions.  We  have  said  to  it,  at  the 
same  time,  that  the  certainty  we  should  acquire  of  its 
resolution  to  observe  in  regard  to  that  country,  after 
our  departure,  a  policy  of  non-intervention,  would  hasten 
the  moment  when  it  would  be  possible  for  us,  without 
compromising  the  interests  which  led  us  there,  to  with 
draw  our  troops,  and  put  an  end  to  an  occupation,  the 


254  MEXICO    UNDER     MAXIMILIAN. 

duration  of  which  we  are  sincerely  desirous  to  abridge. 
In  his  dispatch  of  the  12th  of  February  last  Mr.  Seward 
calls  to  mind,  on  his  part,  that  the  government  of  the 
United  States  has  conformed  during  the  whole  course 
of  its  history  to  the  rule  of  conduct  which  it  received 
from  Washington,  by  practicing  invariably  the  principle 
of  non-intervention,  and  adds  that  nothing  justifies  the 
apprehension  that  it  should  show  itself  unfaithful  in 
what  may  concern  Mexico.  We  receive  this  assurance 
with  entire  confidence,  and  we  find  therein  a  sufficient 
guarantee  not  any  longer  to  delay  the  adoption  of  mea 
sures  intended  to  prepare  for  the  return  of  our  army. 
The  Emperor  has  decided  that  the  French  troops  shall 
evacuate  Mexico  in  three  detachments :  the  first  being 
intended  to  depart  in  the  month  of  November,  1866; 
the  second  in  March,  1867  ;  and  the  third  in  the  month 
of  November  of  the  same  year. 

"  You  will  please  to  communicate  this  decision  offi 
cially  to  the  Secretary  of  State. 

"Receive,  Marquis,  the  assurance  of  my  high  con 
sideration. 

"DROUYN  DE  LHUYS. 

"  The  MARQUIS  DE  MONTHOLON, 

"  Minister  of  the  Emperor,  at  Washington." 


APPENDIX.  255 


V. 

"ME.  SEWARD  TO  ME.  BIGELOW. 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE.     "> 

"WASHINGTON,   $OV.  23,   1866.     ) 

"  SIR  :— Your  dispatch  of  the  8th  of  November  (No. 
384),  in  regard  to  Mexico,  is  received.  Your  proceed 
ings  in  your  interview  with  M.  Moustier,  and  also  }Tour 
proceedings  in  your  interview  with  the  Emperor,  are 
entirely  approved.  Say  to  M.  Moustier  that  this 
government  is  surprised  and  affected  with  deep  concern 
by  the  announcement  now  made  for  the  first  time  that 
the  promised  recall  of  one  detachment  of  the  French 
troops  from  Mexico  in  November  current  has  been  post 
poned  by  the  Emperor.  The  embarrassment  thus  pro 
duced  is  immeasurably  increased  by  the  circumstance 
that  this  proceeding  of  the  Emperor  has  been  taken 
without  conference  with  and  even  without  notice  to  the 
United  States.  This  government  has  not  in  any  way 
afforded  reinforcements  to  the  Mexicans,  as  the  Em 
peror  seems  to  assume,  and  it  has  known  nothing  at  all 
of  his  countermanding  instructions  to  Marshal  Bazaine, 
of  which  the  Emperor  speaks.  We  consult  only  official 
communication  to  ascertain  the  purpose  and  resolutions 
of  France,  as  we  make  our  own  purposes  and  resolutions 


256  MEXICO    UNDER    MAXIMILIAN. 

known  only  in  the  same  manner  when  she  is  concerned. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  and  it  is  now  unnecessary  to 
discuss,  whether  the  President  could  or  could  not  have 
agreed  to  the  Emperor's  proposed  delay,  if  he  had  been 
seasonably  consulted — if  the  proposition  had  been  then 
put,  as  the  proceeding  is  now,  upon  the  ground  of  mili 
tary  considerations  alone,  and  if  it  had  been  marked 
with  the  customary  manifestations  of  regard  to  the 
interests  and  feelings  of  the  United  States.  But  the 
Emperor's  decision  to  modify  the  existing  arrangement 
without  any  understanding  with  the  United  States,  so 
as  to  leave  the  whole  French  army  in  Mexico  for  the 
present,  instead  of  withdrawing  one  detachment  in  No 
vember  current,  as  promised,  is  now  found  in  every  way 
inconvenient  and  exceptionable.  We  cannot  acquiesce, 
first,  because  the  term  "next  spring,"  as  appointed  for 
the  entire  evacuation,  is  indefinite  and  vague  ;  second, 
because  we  have  no  authority  for  stating  to  Congress 
and  to  the  American  people,  that  we  have  now  a  better 
guarantee  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  whole  expeditionary 
force  in  the  spring  than  we  have  heretofore  had  for  the 
withdrawal  of  a  part  in  November ;  third,  in  full  reli 
ance  upon  at  least  a  literal  performance  of  the  Emperor's 
existing  agreement  we  have  taken  measures,  while  facili 
tating  the  anticipatea  French  evacuation  to  co-operate 
with  the  republican  government  of  Mexico  for  promo 
ting  the  pacification  of  that  country,  and  for  the  early 
and  complete  restoration  of  the  proper  constitutional 
authority  of  that  government.  As  a  part  of  those  mea 
sures,  Mr.  Campbell,  our  newly  appointed  Minister, 


AITKMUX.  257 

attended  by  Lieutenant-general  Sherman,  has  been  sent 
to  Mexico  in  order  to  confer  with  President  Juarez  on 
subjects  which  are  deeply  interesting  to  the  United 
States,  and  of  vital  importance  to  Mexico.  Our  policy 
and  measures  thus  adopted  in  full  reliance  upon  the 
anticipated  beginning  of  the  evacuation  of  Mexico  were 
promptly  made  known  to  the  French  legation  here,  and 
doubtless  you  have  already  executed  your  instructions 
by  making  them  known  to  the  Emperor's  government 
in  Paris.  The  Emperor  will  perceive  that  we  cannot 
now  recall  Mr.  Campbell:  nor  can  we  modify  the  in 
structions  under  which  lie  is  expected  to  treat,  and 
under  which  lie  may  even  now  be  treating  with  the 
republican  government  of  Mexico.  That  government 
will  of  course  most  earnestly  desire  and  confidently  ex 
pect  an  early  and  entire  discontinuation  of  foreign 
hostile  occupation.  You  will  therefore  state  to  the 
Emperor's  government,  that  the  President  sincerely 
hopes  and  expects  that  the  evacuation  of  Mexico  will 
be  carried  into  eilect  with  such  conformity  to  thgfex- 
isting  agreement  a.s  the  inopportune  complication  which 
calls  for  this  dispatch  shall  allow.  Mr.  Campbell  will 
be  advised  of  that  complication.  Instructions  will  be 
issued  to  the  United  States  military  forces  of  observa 
tion  to  await  in  every  case  special  directions  from  the 
President.  This  will  be  done  with  a  confident  expecta 
tion  that  the  telegraph  or  the  mail  may  seasonably 
bring  us  a  satisfactory  resolution  from  the  Emperor  in 
reply  to  this  note.  You  will  assure  the  French  govern 
ment  that  the  United  States,  while  they  seek  the  relief 
17 


258  MEXICO    U^'DEii     MAXIMILIAN. 

of  Mexico,  desire  nothing  more  earnestly  than  to 
preserve  peace  and  friendship  with  France  ;  nor  does 
the  President  allow  himself  to  doubt  that  what  has  been 
determined  in  France,  most  inauspicionsly,  as  we  think, 
has  been  decided  upon  inadvertently,  without  full  reflec 
tion  upon  the  embarrassment  it  must  produce  here,  and 
without  any  design  to  retain  the  French  expeditionary 
forces  in  Mexico  beyond  the  full  period  of  eighteen 
months  originally  stipulated  for  the  complete  evacuation. 

"  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM  II.  SEWARD. 

"To  JOHN  BIGELOW,  ESQ.,  &c.,  Paris." 

•  r-     , 


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